www.buddypower.net today reports that individuals with a high resting heart rate and a low beat-to-beat heart rate variability have an increased risk of developing kidney disease, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The findings suggest that the behaviour of the autonomic nervous system may be a clue for late development of certain cases of kidney disease.
15-07-2010
The autonomic nervous system regulates body functions, including heart rate, blood pressure, temperature regulation, and adrenalin release. Dysfunction of the ANS has been linked to kidney disease and its progression..
To study the relationship between dysautonomia and the subsequent development of kidney disease, Daniel Brotman, MD (Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine) and his colleagues examined data from 13,241 individuals enrolled in the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities (ARIC) study, a prospective observational cohort of 15,792 individuals aged 45 to 64 years, drawn from four US communities.
Dr. Brotman and his team found that patients with higher resting heart rates had a 2-fold increased risk of developing kidney failure many years later. Individuals with a lower beat-to-beat variability in heart rate had a 1.5-fold increased risk. Therefore, heart rate measurements could serve as a way to identify patients at higher risk of developing kidney damage.
While the findings do not prove a cause-and-effect relationship, the authors postulate that dysautonomia may negatively impact the health of blood vessels in and around the kidneys. “We hope our findings will encourage further research to better define the putative role of the autonomic nervous system in precipitating and exacerbating renal disease in humans,” the authors wrote. “This, in turn, may ultimately lead to novel therapeutic approaches once the mechanisms for our findings are better characterized,” they added.
Read the full story at: http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/566149/?sc=dwhn.
Source and thanks to www.newswise.com.
