Metabolic Syndrome Linked to Kidney Disease

FRIDAY, Aug. 19 (HealthDay News) — People with metabolic syndrome are at increased risk for kidney disease, a new study suggests.

Metabolic syndrome refers to the presence of three or more of the following health threats: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, low good cholesterol, excess fat in the waist/abdomen, and elevated levels of fatty acids.

It was known that people with metabolic syndrome are at increased risk for diabetes, heart disease, stroke and premature death. This study adds kidney disease to that list.

Researchers analyzed data from more than 30,000 people in 11 studies that examined the relationship between metabolic syndrome and kidney disease. The review revealed that people with metabolic syndrome have a 55 percent increased risk of kidney problems, especially reduced kidney function, which is indicative of kidney disease.

The researchers also found that individual characteristics of metabolic syndrome are associated with kidney disease, and that a person’s risk of kidney disease rises as the number of those characteristics increases.

The findings are scheduled to appear in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

“Primary care physicians may need to consider using metabolic syndrome as a marker to identify patients at higher risk of developing kidney disease,” study author Dr. Sankar Navaneethan, of the Cleveland Clinic, said in a journal news release.

The study also suggests that people can help prevent kidney disease by reducing their risk of metabolic syndrome through a healthy diet, losing excess weight, and lowering blood pressure, blood sugar and “bad” cholesterol levels.

More information

The U.S. National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute has more about metabolic syndrome.

– Robert Preidt

SOURCE: i>Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, news release, Aug. 19, 2011

Last Updated: Aug. 19, 2011