Two new studies have added to the evidence that a connection exists between heart disease and kidney disease.

 

The studies, which were published in the journal Archives of Internal Medicine, found that heart disease is linked to a decline in kidney function, and that conditions related to kidney disease are associated with an increased risk of heart disease.

 

In one study, researchers evaluated 37,153 people who had been screened for kidney disease between 2000 and 2003. Participants gave blood and urine samples and were checked for three signs of kidney disease: anemia; reduced estimated glomerular filtration rates (eGFR), the rate at which kidneys filter blood; and microalbuminuria, elevated levels of protein in the urine.

 

Researchers found that more than one quarter of the people who had all three kidney disease markers also had cardiovascular disease.

 

The findings suggest that screening for cardiovascular disease would be helpful among people who have signs of kidney disease but who don't have a history of heart trouble, researchers concluded.

 

In another study, researchers evaluated data from a large cardiovascular health study conducted between 1987 and 1990. The study involved 13,826 people, 1,787 of whom had heart disease.

 

Researchers checked people's kidney function by measuring eGFR values at three-year intervals for about nine years. Information about people's history of cardiovascular disease, lifestyle, medication use and other factors were taken into account.

 

The study found that people with heart disease were at increased risk for a decline in kidney function and the development of kidney disease.

 

In an editorial accompanying the studies, Barry Freedman, M.D., and Thomas D. DuBose Jr., M.D., of the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C., wrote that heart disease should be recognized as a risk factor for kidney disease and that people with both diseases should be screened and treated accordingly.

 

In September 2006, the American Heart Association issued a science advisory recommending that people who have heart disease or are at risk for it receive blood and urine tests to check for kidney disease.