BHF research programme aims to help kidney patients

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A research project has been launched to find out why patients who suffer from kidney failure have a...

A research project has been launched to find out why patients who suffer from kidney failure have a high risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

According to the British Heart Foundation (BHF), the risk of cardiovascular death is 100 times greater for dialysis patients under 45 than the general population.

Around one in five patients starting dialysis already have a heart condition and more than three-quarters have evidence of structural heart disease.

The research, based at the University of Birmingham, will follow up over 300 kidney failure patients who took part in a study four years ago to assess cardiovascular risk factors.

Research leader, Dr Jonathon Townend, said: 'With 34,000 people in the UK suffering from kidney failure, the potential for this study to help improve the quality of life for these patients is huge.'

Demographic details, history of renal disease and any cardio-vascular events suffered by patients taking part in the study will be recorded along with other possible risk factors including weight, current medication and blood pressure.

Sir Charles George, medical director of the BHF, which will be funding the project, said: 'The links between kidney failure and the risk of developing cardiovascular disease are strong and we need more epi-demiological studies such as this to understand how we can help patients at risk in the future.'

The charity will be providing an early grant of £85,000 to conduct the two-year project.

'The results of the research will greatly help to further our understanding of this area and potentially open up a path to give more concrete advice to kidney failure patients on how to reduce their risk of developing cardiovascular disease,' added George.



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