Tests reveal risk of kidney disease

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

A study shows that simple urine and blood tests show who is at risk of end-stage renal disease.
The rate of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is on the increase. The condition often needs dialysis or kidney transplantation. It would, therefore, be useful to predict who is at risk so that interventions can be made.

Researchers at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Medical Center now reveal that simple lab tests are capable of predicting ESRD. They used data on nearly 13,000 men in a study on heart disease prevention. Over 25 years of the study, 1.7 per cent of the study group developed ESRD or died of kidney disease. On the urine dipstick test, those who had more than a trace amount of protein at middle age had triple the risk of ESRD. If the result was strongly positive, the risk went up to 15 times the average.

A blood test that measured the estimated glomerular filtration rate - a measure of kieny functioning - also predicted long-term ESRD risk. If it was low, then the risk of kidney disease was more than doubled. If both tests were abnormal, then the risk of ESRD was 41 times more than for those with normal results. Other factors predictive of ESRD were smoking high blood pressure and low levels of high density lipoprotein (HDL or 'good') cholesterol.

Source
Journal of the American Society of Nephrology online 12th April 2006

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