Overweight and Obese Patients at Higher Risk of Kidney Disease

A study including almost 6000 peoplewith hypertension revealed that thedevelopment of kidney disease is morelikely among hypertensive patients whoare also overweight or obese. Whenreviewed at baseline, none of thepatients had chronic kidney disease;after 5 years, however, the disease wasprevalent in 28% of patients with idealbody weight, 31% of patients consideredoverweight, and 34% of obese patients.Lead investigator Holly Kramer,MD, MPH,notes the association between obesityand risk of chronic kidney disease withinthe hypertensive population: "Obesityrepresents a constellation of risk factorsmediated by insulin resistance, which weknow increases cardiovascular risk."

Ms. Farley is a freelance medicalwriter based in Wakefield, RI.