In a new study, researchers found that tests of patients’ kidney health may provide insights on their risk of developing heart disease.
The research was conducted by a team at Shanghai Jiaotong University.
To calculate a person’s 10-year risk of having a heart problem, such as a heart attack or stroke, doctors often use the atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) risk score.
The score is based on the person’s age, sex, race, cholesterol, systolic blood pressure, blood pressure-lowering medications used, diabetes status, and smoking status.
Experts have noted that other risk factors should also be considered when deciding whether patients should take preventive medications such as statins.
In the study, the team examined whether measures of kidney function might be useful.
They used data from the China Cardiometabolic Disease and Cancer Cohort Study, which is a large, nationwide study of Chinese adults aged 40 years and older.
The team found that the addition of the urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio and the estimated glomerular filtration rate improved estimates of future heart disease risk.
They say that for the primary prevention of heart disease, a comprehensive evaluation using both traditional and non-traditional risk factors is important.
Evaluation using traditional risk factors such as blood sugar, blood pressure, and lipids could make the first stratification on your risk.
Further evaluation using non-traditional risk factors related to kidney health could predict the risk more accurately.
One author of the study is Guang Ning, MD, Ph.D.
The study is published in JASN.
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