Researchers from the University of Kentucky have taken a closer look at the relationship between obesity and kidney disease and found that it is much more complicated and harmful than scientists had thought before.
Their review was recently published in the journal Nature Reviews Nephrology, and it shows how carrying too much body fat can seriously damage the kidneys, and how kidney problems can, in turn, affect fat tissue in the body.
For many years, people have known that obesity puts extra strain on the body and raises the risk of many diseases, including kidney disease.
But this new study explains in more detail how that happens.
According to Dr. Analia S. Loria, who led the research, fat tissue doesn’t just sit in the body. It acts like an active organ, sending out chemical signals and hormones that can harm the kidneys.
These signals can cause inflammation, raise blood pressure inside the kidneys, and disrupt normal blood flow, all of which can lead to kidney damage over time.
The researchers found that expanded fat tissue physically presses on the kidneys, making it harder for them to work properly. At the same time, the fat tissue sends harmful messages to the brain, which then increases nerve activity that affects the kidneys and speeds up kidney damage.
Dr. Carolina Dalmasso, one of the main authors of the review, explained that these brain-kidney signals make the situation even worse and contribute to the development of chronic kidney disease.
But the connection doesn’t go just one way. The review also found that when the kidneys start to fail, they cannot remove waste products from the body properly. These waste products then build up and can damage fat tissue.
According to Dr. Nermin Ahmed, another lead author, this can cause fat to be stored in unhealthy ways and even lead to the loss of healthy fat tissue, which might further harm kidney function.
The review stressed that understanding this complicated communication between fat tissue, the brain, and the kidneys is key to finding new ways to treat or prevent kidney disease, especially in people with obesity. Current treatments mainly focus on controlling blood pressure and managing symptoms.
However, the researchers believe that future treatments could aim to block the harmful signals sent by fat tissue, which might help prevent both obesity-related high blood pressure and kidney damage.
They also discussed different strategies that are being studied or used today. These include medicines that target a hormone system called the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, which controls blood pressure and fluid balance.
Other strategies involve reducing inflammation, improving the way the body handles fats, making healthy lifestyle changes, and in some cases, undergoing weight-loss surgery.
Meghan Turner, a Ph.D. student who helped create summary diagrams for the review, said it was exciting to be part of a project that pulled together so much new information and shared it in a well-known medical journal.
Overall, this research highlights just how serious the link between obesity and kidney disease really is.
It shows that obesity harms the kidneys in many ways, not just through high blood pressure or diabetes, but also through direct and damaging communication between fat, the brain, and the kidneys. It also points out that kidney disease can make fat tissue worse, creating a vicious cycle.
The findings from this review suggest that doctors and scientists need to think about obesity and kidney disease as deeply connected problems. New treatments need to go beyond just lowering blood pressure or blood sugar.
They need to interrupt the harmful signals between fat, the brain, and the kidneys. With more research, it may become possible to develop medicines or other therapies that can slow down or even stop this damaging cycle, helping people live longer and healthier lives.
If you care about kidney health, please read studies about how to protect your kidneys from diabetes, and drinking coffee could help reduce risk of kidney injury.
For more information about kidney health, please see recent studies about foods that may prevent recurrence of kidney stones, and eating nuts linked to lower risk of chronic kidney disease and death.
The research findings can be found in Nature Reviews Nephrology.
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