Although more women than men have chronic kidney disease (CKD), more men develop kidney failure.
Scientists from the University Hospital of North Norway found kidney function was lower in middle-aged women than in men, but the subsequent rate of kidney function decline during aging was steeper among men.
Most people lose part of their kidney function when they get older, and because the population is aging worldwide, more people are developing CKD.
The Global Burden of Disease study predicts that CKD will be the fifth most common cause of years of life lost by 2040.
In the study, the team tested 1,837 adults (53% women, aged 50–62 years) in northern Europe who were representative of the general population and did not have diabetes, CKD, or heart disease.
These participants’ kidney function was measured in 2007–2009, 2013–2015, and 2018–2020.
Because the common method to estimate kidney function using creatinine levels in the blood is inaccurate and unreliable, the team measured the kidney function by intravenous injection of a kidney filtration marker—the contrast media iohexol.
A blood sample was collected 3-4 hours later to calculate the kidney filtration rate.
During 11 years of follow-up, the team performed more than 4,000 kidney function measurements in 1,837 people.
The team found that women tended to have lower kidney function than men in 2007–2009. Women’s kidney function then declined over time in a linear fashion, but men’s kidney function dropped more rapidly at older ages.
People with no major chronic diseases or risk factors for CKD maintained better kidney function, but health status did not explain the sex differences in kidney function decline.
This study is the first study that repeats accurate measurements of kidney function in relatively healthy women and men during aging.
By doing so, the researchers provide important knowledge regarding age-related loss of kidney function and sex disparities in the prevalence of CKD.
The study may in part explain why more women are diagnosed with early CKD and more men develop severe CKD and kidney failure during aging.
Accelerated loss of kidney function has been linked to premature death. The role of age-related loss of kidney function on healthy aging and life expectancy in women and men should be addressed in further studies.
If you care about kidney health, please read studies about how to protect your kidneys from diabetes, and best and worst diets for diabetic kidney disease you need to know.
For more information about kidney disease, please see recent studies about unhealthy eating habits that could increase your risk of dangerous kidney disease, and results showing why processed foods trigger chronic kidney disease.
The research was published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology and conducted by Toralf Melsom et al.
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