In a new study, researchers find that drinking more caffeine may help people with chronic kidney disease live longer.
About 89% of the adult USA population consumes caffeine daily. Approximately 14% of adults in the United States have chronic kidney disease.
Chronic kidney disease is linked to increased health care costs and a higher risk of death. The prevalence of the disease is expected to continue to increase worldwide.
Previous research has shown an inverse relationship between coffee consumption and death risk.
But the link between caffeine consumption and mortality for people with chronic kidney disease remains uncertain.
In the study, the researchers hypothesized that caffeine consumption might be linked to lower death risk among people with kidney disease.
The researchers analyzed data from 4,863 American people observed from 1999 to 2010.
They found an inverse association between caffeine consumption and all-cause mortality among people with chronic kidney disease.
Comparing with people that consumed less caffeine, people consuming more caffeine had a 25% less risk of death over a median follow-up of 5 years.
The possible protective effect of caffeine might be related to effects at vascular level.
Caffeine is known to promote the release of substances, such as nitric oxide, that improves the function of the vessel.
The researchers suggest their finding provides a simple, clinically beneficial, and inexpensive option that could benefit people with chronic kidney disease.
The benefit should ideally be confirmed in a randomized clinical trial.
The author emphasized that this observational study only suggests the possibility of a protective effect but cannot prove the effect directly.
Miguel Bigotte Vieira is one of the study’s lead authors.
The study is published in Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation.
Copyright © 2018 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
Source: Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation.
