Metabolic syndrome in African-Americans is linked with increased risk of chronic kidney disease

Reported by Susan Aldridge, PhD, medical journalist

For African-Americans with high blood pressure, metabolic syndrome will increase the risk of chronic kidney disease.
Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of risk factors including high blood sugar, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. Having metabolic syndrome is known to raise the risk of diabetes, heart disease and chronic kidney disease. A new study from researchers at Emory University now highlights a link between metabolic syndrome and chronic kidney disease among African-Americans.

They looked at data from a large group of African-Americans undergoing treatment for high blood pressure. They found that 25 per cent of the group had metabolic syndrome. After four years of follow up, the patients with metabolic syndrome had significantly higher rates of progressive chronic kidney disease. The researchers say metabolic syndrome increases the risk of chronic kidney disease by as much as 40 per cent.

None of the individual risk factors alone was responsible for the increased risk of chronic kidney disease. It is the combination which is significant. Previous studies have linked metabolic syndrome to an increased risk of chronic kidney disease. This study shows that there is also a link to progressing existing chronic kidney disease. Therefore it is important to treat metabolic syndrome, through a combination of diet and exercise, as this may then reduce the risk of progressive chronic kidney disease.

Source
American Society of Nephrology meeting 17th November 2006

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