Recent Longevity News for the seven days ending 3/6/13.  You should consult your doctor if you are taking any medications.

What predicts distress after episodes of sleep paralysis? - Science Daily, 3/4/13 - Note:  I threw this in because it's the first time I've read about it and being aware of what it is might diminish the stress. I've had it happen twice in my life though not within the last 30 years. It's scary though. It's as though your mind wakes up but your body is still asleep. You cannot move but you’re totally aware of where you are, what day and approximate time, etc. The only thing you can control is your breathing. Both times I increased the rate and depth of my breathing to make enough noise that I woke up. Both times I had a long and exhausting day prior and it was too hot to sleep (once in Vietnam and once in a non-air conditioned dorm in Miami) which may have caused it. I've always believed and still do that it's connected to severe sleep deprivation.  The first time it was when I had had about 2 hours sleep in the last 40 hours.

Grape seed and skin extract: A weapon in the fight against kidney disease caused by high-fat diets - Science Daily, 2/28/13 - "Grape seed and skin extract (GSSE) is known to contain powerful antioxidants ... Rats were fed a high-fat diet that induced a low-grade reno-lipotoxicity, that is, kidney damage associated with lipids. This was characterized by elevations in plasma urea and protein in the urine. The researchers found increased deposits of triglycerides (TG) (especially saturated fatty acids), increased signs of oxidative stress and depleted copper levels in the kidneys. There was also histological evidence of disturbance in the kidney structure. When the animals received GSSE at 500 mg/kg bw (which corresponds to 35g/day for a 70 kg human adult) along with the high-fat diet there was a partial reversal of the TG deposition as well as the histological damage. The authors suggest polyphenols including resveratrol are likely the components in GSSE responsible for the positive effects. Furthermore the GSSE prevented the oxidative stress and copper depletion" - See Jarrow Formulas, OPCs + 95 at Amazon.com.

Brain Can't Cope With Making a Left-Hand Turn and Talking On Hands-Free Cell Phone - Science Daily, 2/28/13 - "that could be the most dangerous thing they ever do on the road"

White Coat Hypertension in the Very Elderly: Worth Treating? - Medscape, 2/28/13 - "We should not ignore patients who say that their blood pressures at home are not high, so we do not need to treat them, because white coat hypertensives in this elderly age group benefited just as much as people who had ambulatory monitoring elevations"

Higher Indoor Humidity Levels Might Slow Flu's Spread - WebMD, 2/28/13 - "the team found that when humidity levels were set to 43 percent, only 14 percent of the virus particles that were released were able to transmit the influenza virus, compared with a transmission rate of 70 percent to 77 percent in a relatively low-humidity environment (23 percent)" - Note:  That might be true but most of what I've read indicates that the virus is usually spread by surface to surface contact.  People touch something that has the virus then they touch their mouth, eyes or nose.

Taking omega-3 supplements may help prevent skin cancer, new study finds - Science Daily, 2/26/13 - "the study analysed the effect of taking omega-3 on 79 healthy volunteers ... taking a regular dose of fish oils boosted skin immunity to sunlight. Specifically, it also reduced sunlight-induced suppression of the immune system, known as immunosuppression, which affects the body's ability to fight skin cancer and infection ... it was the first time the research had been carried out on humans" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.

Women's Iron Intake May Help to Protect Against PMS - Science Daily, 2/26/13 - "women who consumed the most non-heme iron, the form found primarily in plant foods and in supplements, had a 30 to 40 percent lower risk of developing PMS than women who consumed the lowest amount of non-heme iron ... The level of iron intake at which we saw a lower risk of PMS, roughly greater than 20 mg per day, is higher than the current recommended daily allowance (RDA) for iron for premenopausal women, which is 18 mg per day ... Iron may be related to PMS because it is involved in producing serotonin, a neurotransmitter that helps to regulate mood ... The level of zinc intake at which we saw suggestion of a lower risk of PMS, greater than 15 mg per day, was also higher than current recommendations of 8 mg per day"

FDA approves drug for painful sex in women - nbcnews.com, 2/26/13 - "The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the drug, Osphena, for a type of pain known as dyspareunia, which is a symptom of vulvar and vaginal atrophy due to menopause ... The drug's label includes a boxed warning, the most severe available, alerting patients to an increased risk of strokes and deep vein thrombosis. Common side effects include hot flashes, vaginal discharge, muscle spasms and excessive sweating"

Half of Colorectal Cancers Linked to Obesity and Inactivity - Medscape, 2/26/13 - "increased body weight and decreased levels of physical activity are only associated with an increased risk for colorectal cancer that tests negative for the biomarker CTNNB1. This subtype accounted for 54% of the cases tested ... Higher body mass index (BMI) was associated with a significantly higher risk for CTNNB1-negative colorectal cancer (multivariate hazard ratio (HR) for increments of 5 kg/m², 1.34; P trend < .0001). Physical activity was associated with a significantly lower risk for CTNNB1-negative colorectal cancer (multivariate HR for increments of 10 MET-h/week, 0.93; P trend = .044) ... The mechanism may involve insulin and insulin-like growth factors (IGF), which are the main suspects in the search for putative mediators of the causal link between obesity and colorectal cancer" - Note:  Seems like they could phrase it in English.  The way I read it, 54% of colon cancer patients were CTNNB1-negative.  Of that 54%, a higher BMI results in a 34% increase in odds of getting colon cancer and a higher fitness level results in a 7% decrease in getting colon cancer”

Abstracts from this week's Doctor's Guide Nutrition/Dietetics plus abstracts from my RSS feeds (Click here for the journals, the PubMed ones at the top):

Green tea and coffee consumption is inversely associated with depressive symptoms in a Japanese working population - Public Health Nutr. 2013 Mar 4:1-9 - "Higher green tea consumption was associated with a lower prevalence of depressive symptoms. Compared with participants consuming ≤1 cup/d, those consuming ≥4 cups green tea/d had a 51 % significantly lower prevalence odds of having depressive symptoms ... Coffee consumption was also inversely associated with depressive symptoms (≥2 cups/d v. <1 cup/d: OR = 0.61; 95 % CI 0.38, 0.98). Multiple-adjusted odds for depressive symptoms comparing the highest with the lowest quartile of caffeine consumption was OR = 0.57 (95 % CI 0.30, 1.05; P for trend = 0.02)" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.

Arterial Stiffness and Wave Reflections in Relation to Plasma Advanced Glycation End Products in a Chinese Population - Am J Hypertens. 2013 Feb 28 - "AGEs accumulate with aging and high cholesterol and are associated with arterial wave reflections and, in an age-dependent manner, with arterial stiffness"

Effects of Low-Dose Atorvastatin on Arterial Stiffness and Central Aortic Pressure Augmentation in Patients With Hypertension and Hypercholesterolemia - Am J Hypertens. 2013 Feb 28 - "50 hypertensive and hypercholesterolemic patients were allocated to receive 10mg of atorvastatin or placebo for 26 weeks ... At study end, aortic PWV (9.0+/-1.5 vs. 10.9+/-2.6 m/sec; P<0.001) and AIx(75) (24.9% +/- 9.7% vs 28.8% +/- 11.8%; P < 0.001) were significantly lower in the atorvastatin group than that placebo group. Furthermore, decreases in central aortic systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure were evident at study-end with atorvastatin but not with placebo (130+/-8 vs. 138+/-6mm Hg, P < 0.001; 48+/-7 vs. 53+/-6mm Hg, P < 0.05, respectively). Atorvastatin-induced reductions in aortic PWV during follow-up showed significant associations with changes in AIx(75) and central aortic systolic blood pressure and pulse pressure"

Strong associations of 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations with all-cause, cardiovascular, cancer, and respiratory disease mortality in a large cohort study - Am J Clin Nutr. 2013 Feb 27 - "ESTHER study, which is a German population-based cohort aged 50-74 y at baseline. Deaths were recorded during 9.5 y of follow-up (median) ... The overall mortality [HR (95% CI)] of subjects with vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)D concentrations <30 nmol/L] or vitamin D insufficiency [25(OH)D concentrations from 30 to 50 nmol/L) was significantly increased [1.71 (1.43, 2.03) and 1.17 (1.02, 1.35), respectively] compared with that of subjects with sufficient 25(OH)D concentrations (>50 nmol/L)]. Vitamin D deficiency was also associated with increased cardiovascular mortality [1.39 (95% CI: 1.02, 1.89)], cancer mortality [1.42 (95% CI: 1.08, 1.88)] and respiratory disease mortality [2.50 (95% CI: 1.12, 5.56)]. The association of 25(OH)D concentrations with all-cause mortality proved to be a nonlinear inverse association with risk that started to increase at 25(OH)D concentrations <75 nmol/L" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Association of pre-diagnosis physical activity with recurrence and mortality among women with breast cancer - Int J Cancer. 2013 Feb 27 - "physical activity (PA) ... assessed the association of pre-diagnosis PA with recurrence, overall and cause-specific survival in a prospective cohort study in Germany including 3,393 non-metastatic breast cancer patients aged 50-74 years ... median follow-up of 5.6 years ... Overall mortality was significantly inversely associated with pre-diagnosis recreational PA. However, this effect was mainly attributed to deaths due to causes other than breast cancer. Multiple fractional polynomial analyses yielded a non-linear association with markedly increased non-breast cancer mortality for women who did not engage in any sports or cycling in the years before the breast cancer diagnosis with a hazard ratio HR (none vs. any) of 1.71, 95% confidence interval (1.16, 2.52). There were no further risk reductions with increasing activity levels. The association with breast cancer-specific mortality showed a similar dose-response but was far less pronounced with HR (none vs. any)=1.22 (0.91, 1.64). In contrast, regarding cancer recurrence the dose-response was linear. However, this association was restricted to estrogen/progesterone receptor-negative (ER-/PR-) cases (p(interaction) =0.033) with HR (highest vs. no recreational PA)=0.53 (0.24, 1.16), p(trend) =0.0045"

Dietary total antioxidant capacity and colorectal cancer: A large case-control study in Italy - Int J Cancer. 2013 Feb 27 - "A reproducible and valid food frequency questionnaire was used to assess subjects' usual diet. Total antioxidant capacity (TAC) was measured using Italian food composition tables in terms of FRAP (Ferric Reducing-Antioxidant Power), TEAC (Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity), and TRAP (Total Radical-trapping Antioxidant Parameter) ... TAC was inversely related with colorectal cancer risk: the OR for the highest versus the lowest quintile was 0.68 (95% CI, 0.57-0.82) for FRAP, 0.69 (95% CI, 0.57-0.83) for TEAC, and 0.69 (95% CI, 0.57-0.83) for TRAP. Corresponding values, excluding TAC deriving by coffee, were 0.75 (95% CI, 0.61-0.93) for FRAP, 0.76 (95% CI, 0.61-0.93) for TEAC, and 0.71 (95% CI, 0.57-0.89) for TRAP" - See Garden of Life, Radical Fruits Antioxidant Complex at Amazon.com.

Coffee intake and risk of type 2 diabetes: the Multiethnic Cohort - Public Health Nutr. 2013 Feb 27:1-9 - "The risk for diabetes associated with total coffee consumption differed by sex (P interaction < 0.0001). Women consuming ≥3 cups of any type of coffee daily had a significantly lower risk (HR = 0.66; 95 % CI 0.58, 0.77; P trend < 0.0001) than those reporting <1 cup/d, whereas the relationship in men was borderline (HR = 0.89; 95 % CI 0.80, 0.99; P trend = 0.09). The same difference by sex was seen for regular coffee consumption, with HR of 0.65 (95 % CI 0.54, 0.78; P trend < 0.0001) and 0.86 (95 % CI 0.75, 0.98; P trend = 0.09) in men and women, respectively. No significant association with diabetes was apparent for decaffeinated coffee in women (HR = 0.85; 95 % CI 0.72, 1.01; P trend = 0.73) or men (HR = 1.07; 95 % CI 0.93, 1.23; P trend = 0.71)"

Maternal fish consumption during pregnancy and risks of wheezing and eczema in childhood: The Generation R Study - Eur J Clin Nutr. 2013 Feb 27 - "We observed no consistent associations of maternal total-, lean- or fatty-fish consumption during pregnancy with the risks of childhood wheezing. Maternal shellfish consumption of 1-13 g per week was associated with overall increased risks of childhood wheezing and eczema (OR 1.20 (1.04, 1.40) and OR 1.18 (1.01, 1.37), respectively). Maternal fatty fish consumption of 35-69 g per week was associated with increased overall risks of childhood eczema (OR 1.17 (1.00, 1.38)), but maternal total- or lean-fish consumption was not"

Higher plasma homocysteine is associated with increased risk of developing colorectal polyps - Nutr Cancer. 2013 Feb;65(2):195-201 - "participants with higher plasma homocysteine [odds ratio (OR) = 1.87, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.13, 3.08) level exhibited significantly increased risk of colorectal polyps after adjusting for potential confounders. Plasma homocysteine was a strong predictor of the risk of colorectal polyps in participants with adequate B-vitamins status"

Using genetic proxies for lifecourse sun exposure to assess the causal relationship of sun exposure with circulating vitamin D and prostate cancer risk - Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 2013 Feb 25 - "Individuals who tend to burn are more likely to spend less time in the sun and consequently have lower plasma vitamin D levels and higher susceptibility to prostate cancer" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.

Neat Tech Stuff / "How To's":

• Video: Classic Macaroni and Cheese - Allrecipes.com - I took this recipe and modified it.  Instead of evaporated whole milk I used evaporated skim milk and substituted the fat I saved with omega-9 and omega-3 by combining 1/4 cup of olive oil then adding Smart Balance Omega-3 margarine until the measuring cup came up to a half cup (including the olive oil).  Adding it immediately after draining the noodles caused it to melt in.  Then I skipped the butter shown in the recipe.  I also substituted brown rice noodles for the wheat noodles plus I added cup of chicken breast strips from Costco (16 ounces) plus a package of frozen broccoli.  For the cheese, I used four different kinds:  Mozzarella, cheddar, Muenster and Monterey Jack.  That was nearly everything sold in square slices.  The Mozzarella and cheddar slices had both types combined into each slice.  The Pyrex Easy Grab 3-qt Oblong with Red Plastic Cover is the perfect size container. I'd go with three layers, not four as indicated in the video.  Plus with the Mozzarella and cheddar slices combined, there are only three packages of cheese.  You one package with about a 25% overlap on each layer and it works perfectly.  Also I'd go seven minutes on boiling the noodles.  They'll finish cooking in the oven.

Health Focus (Kidney Disease):

Related Topics:

• Creatine

Popular Supplements:

• vitamin E / isoflavones / melatonin / acetyl-l-cysteine

Alternative News:

• Fish oil may protect dialysis patients from sudden cardiac death - Science Daily, 2/6/13 - "We found that higher levels of omega-3 fatty acids in the blood of patients who were just starting hemodialysis were very strongly associated with a lower risk of sudden cardiac death over the first year of their treatment ... The five-year survival rate for patients on hemodialysis is 35 percent, with the risk of death highest in the first few months of starting treatment. The most common cause of death in these patients is sudden cardiac death, which accounts for about one out of every four deaths" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• The Effects of n-3 Long-Chain Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid Supplementation on Biomarkers of Kidney Injury in Adults With Diabetes: Results of the GO-FISH trial - Diabetes Care. 2012 Dec 28 - "placebo-controlled, two-period crossover trial to test the effects of 4 g/day of n-3 PUFA supplementation on markers of glomerular filtration and kidney injury in adults with adult-onset diabetes and greater than or equal to trace amounts of proteinuria ... These results suggest a potential effect of n-3 PUFA supplementation on markers of kidney injury in patients with diabetes and early evidence of kidney disease" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Effect of a High-Protein Diet on Kidney Function in Healthy Adults: Results From the OmniHeart Trial - Am J Kidney Dis. 2012 Dec 4 - "Participants were fed each of 3 diets for 6 weeks. Feeding periods were separated by a 2- to 4-week washout period. Weight was held constant on each diet. The 3 diets emphasized carbohydrate, protein, or unsaturated fat; dietary protein was either 15% (carbohydrate and unsaturated fat diets) or 25% (protein diet) of energy intake ... Compared with the carbohydrate and unsaturated fat diets, the protein diet increased cystatin C-based eGFR by ~ 4 mL/min/1.73 m(2) (P < 0.001) ... A healthy diet rich in protein increased eGFR. Whether long-term consumption of a high-protein diet leads to kidney disease is uncertain"
• Vitamin D reduces left atrial volume in patients with left ventricular hypertrophy and chronic kidney disease - Am Heart J. 2012 Dec;164(6):902-909.e2 - "Left atrial enlargement, a sensitive integrator of left ventricular diastolic function, is associated with increased cardiovascular morbidity and mortality ... left atrial volume index (LAVi) ... One hundred ninety-six patients with chronic kidney disease (estimated glomerular filtration rate 15-60 mL/min per 1.73m(2)), mild to moderate left ventricular hypertrophy, and preserved ejection fraction were randomly assigned to 2 μg of oral paricalcitol or matching placebo for 48 weeks ... Over the study period, there was a significant decrease in LAVi (-2.79 mL/m(2), 95% CI -4.00 to -1.59 mL/m(2)) in the paricalcitol group compared with the placebo group (-0.70 mL/m(2) [95% CI -1.93 to 0.53 mL/m(2)], P = .002). Paricalcitol also attenuated the rise in levels of brain natriuretic peptide (10.8% in paricalcitol vs 21.3% in placebo, P = .02) ... Forty-eight weeks of therapy with an active vitamin D analog reduces LAVi and attenuates the rise of BNP. In a population where only few therapies alter cardiovascular related morbidity and mortality, these post hoc results warrant further confirmation" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Curcumin alleviates oxidative stress, inflammation, and renal fibrosis in remnant kidney through the Nrf2-keap1 pathway - Mol Nutr Food Res. 2012 Nov 23 - "These findings demonstrate that, by modulating Nrf2-Keap1 pathway, the curcumin effectively attenuates oxidative stress, inflammation, and renal fibrosis, which suggest that curcumin hold promising potential for safe treatment of chronic kidney disease" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.
• Calcium supplementation and kidney stone risk in osteoporosis: a systematic literature review - Clin Exp Rheumatol. 2012 Nov 6 - "According to our results, calcium supplements in the treatment of osteoporosis alone or in combination with another type of treatment does not significantly increase the risk of nephrolithiasis or renal colic"
• Dietary fish oil reduces glomerular injury and elevated renal hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid levels in the JCR:LA-cp rat, a model of the metabolic syndrome - Br J Nutr. 2012 Nov 15:1-9 - "These results suggest a potential role for dietary fish oil to improve dysfunctional renal eicosanoid metabolism associated with kidney damage during conditions of the MetS" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Chronic kidney disease alters intestinal microbial flora - Science Daily, 10/9/12 - "consumption of high-fiber foods and better control of uremia -- a disease common in kidney failure -- by diet and dialysis may improve the composition of gut microbes and the well-being of patients ... They found marked differences in the abundance of some 190 types of bacteria in the gut microbiome of those with kidney disease -- and confirmed the results in a concurrent study of rats with and without chronic kidney disease ... One solution, Vaziri said, is to provide longer, more frequent dialysis treatments. This would let more potassium be removed by dialysis and allow for more potassium in the diet. Alternatively, packaged fiber foods that do not contain potassium could be used as a dietary supplement" - See Garden of Life, RAW Fiber at Amazon.com and probiotic products at Amazon.com.
• Patients on Peritoneal Dialysis May Benefit From Vitamin D - Medscape, 6/22/12 - "Significant protective factors were hemoglobin levels above 12 g/dL and the treatment with oral active vitamin D ... patients receiving oral active vitamin D had significantly better outcomes in terms of avoiding peritonitis over time compared with patients who were not taking it ... oral active vitamin D reduced the risk of developing peritonitis by 57% ... oral active vitamin D was associated with a 54% decreased risk for all-cause death ... The biggest problem in studying the effects of vitamin D, he said, is that it is "too cheap...so there is no company interested in this kind of study. But this should be stimulated by authorities, I think. It's a cheap drug, and probably it is a very valuable one."" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin K, vertebral fractures, vascular calcifications and mortality: Vitamin K Italian (VIKI) dialysis study - J Bone Miner Res. 2012 Jun 12 - "Vitamin K1 deficiency was the strongest predictor of vertebral fractures (OR 2.94 95%CI 1.38-6.26). MK4 deficiency was a predictor of aortic calcification (OR 2.82 95%CI 1.14-7.01), whereas MK5 deficiency actually protected against it (OR 0.38 95%CI 0.15-0.95). MK7 deficiency was a predictor of iliac calcification (OR 1.64 95%CI 1.03-2.60). The presence of vertebral fractures was also a predictor of vascular calcifications (OR 1.76 95%CI 1.00-3.08). Increased alkaline phosphatase and C reactive protein (CRP), age, cerebrovascular events were predictors of mortality. Our study suggests that the vitamin K system may be important for preserving bone mass and avoiding vascular calcification in hemodialysis patients, pointing out a possible role of vitamin K in bone and vascular health" - See vitamin K products at iHerb.
• Antiapoptotic and Antioxidant Effects of Grape Seed Proanthocyanidin Extract (GSPE) in Preventing Cyclosporine A-induced Nephropathy - Nephrology (Carlton). 2012 Jan 18 - "The study demonstrates the abilty of GSPE to attenuate cyclosporine nephrotoxicity in rats, via its anti-oxidant and anti-apoptotic properties. GSPE is a natural product containing high amounts of polyphenols with known anti-inflammatory properties ... We demonstrated that GSPE prevents CsA nephropathy and that this effect is achieved by antiapoptotic and antioxidant activity. We also achieved a significant recovery in kidney functions without affecting CsA plasma levels" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.
• Plasma vitamin C concentrations in patients on routine hemodialysis and its relationship to patients morbidity and mortality Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2011 Jul;81(4):197-203 - "hemodialysis (HD) patients ... Forty-nine patients (53.8 %) had low levels of vitamin C concentration. There was a significant relationship between vitamin C insufficiency and presence of any co-morbidity in HD patients (p < 0.05). There was a significant difference in vitamin C concentrations between patients without co-morbidities and those with cardiovascular ones (F[2,88]=3.447, p = 0.036). Twenty-two (24.2 %) patients died over a median duration of 227 days. There was a significant difference in time to death of patients with and without low levels of vitamin C concentration (p = 0.04). Conclusions: The results showed lower plasma vitamin C levels in HD patients who suffered any co-morbidity and sooner time to death in these patients" - See vitamin C products at Amazon.com.
• Fruit, vegetables, fibre and micronutrients and risk of US renal cell carcinoma - Br J Nutr. 2011 Dec 20:1-9 - "Intake of vegetables was associated with a decreased risk of RCC (OR 0.5; 95 % CI 0.3, 0.7; Ptrend = 0.002), (top compared to the bottom quartile of intake). When intake of individual nutrients was investigated, vegetable fibre intake was associated with decreased risks (OR 0.4; 95 % CI 0.2, 0.6; P < 0.001), but this was not the case with fruit fibre (OR 0.7; 95 % CI 0.4, 1.1) or grain fibre (OR 1.0; 95 % CI 0.6, 1.5). β-Cryptoxanthin and lycopene were also associated with decreased risks, but when both were included in a mutually adjusted backwards stepwise regression model, only β-cryptoxanthin remained significant (OR 0.5; 95 % CI 0.3, 0.8). When other micronutrients and types of fibre were investigated together, only vegetable fibre and β-cryptoxanthin had significant trends (P < 0.01) (OR 0.6; 95 % CI 0.3, 0.9) (OR 0.5; 95 % CI 0.3, 0.9), respectively. These findings were stronger in those aged over 65 years (Pinteraction = 0.001). Among non-smokers, low intake of cruciferous vegetables and fruit fibre was also associated with increased risk of RCC (Pinteraction = 0.03); similar inverse associations were found for β-cryptoxanthin, lycopene and vitamin C. When nutrients were mutually adjusted by backwards regression in these subgroups, only β-cryptoxanthin remained associated with lower RCC risk"
• Grape Seed Proanthocyanidin Extract Reduces Renal Ischemia/Reperfusion Injuries in Rats - Am J Med Sci. 2011 Nov 16 - "renal ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) ... GSPE reduced histological renal damage and nuclear factor-κB activity. These results suggest that GSPE reduces renal dysfunction and injury caused by renal I/R" - See grape seed extract at Amazon.com.
• Association of Kidney Function, Vitamin D Deficiency, and Circulating Markers of Mineral and Bone Disorders in CKD - Am J Kidney Dis. 2011 Jul 29 - "25(OH)D deficiency is related independently to impaired mGFR. Both mGFR decrease and 25(OH)D deficiency are associated with abnormal levels of circulating MBD biomarkers" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Long-term dietary antioxidant cocktail supplementation effectively reduces renal inflammation in diabetic mice - Br J Nutr. 2011 Jun 3:1-8 - "Diabetic nephropathy is a serious complication for diabetic patients, yet the precise mechanism that underlies the development of diabetic complications remains unknown. We hypothesised that dietary antioxidant supplementation with single N-acetylcysteine (NAC) or vitamin C combined with either vitamin E or vitamin E and NAC improves diabetic renal inflammation through the modulation of blood glucose levels, oxidative stress and inflammatory response. Experimental animals were treated with alloxan monohydrate to induce diabetes. Mice were divided into five groups and supplemented with single or a combination of antioxidants. Body weights and blood glucose levels were measured once a week. After 8 weeks of dietary antioxidant supplementation, mice were killed and blood urea N (BUN) and plasma creatinine levels were measured to evaluate renal function. NF-κB protein was indirectly demonstrated by the phosphorylated IκBα (pIκBα) level, and the expressions of oxidative stress- and inflammatory response-related proteins were also determined. We demonstrated that dietary antioxidant supplementation decreased lipid peroxidation levels demonstrated by thiobarbituric acid-reacting substances, BUN and plasma creatinine levels in diabetic kidneys. Moreover, dietary antioxidant cocktail supplementation improved blood glucose levels and selectively regulated the expressions of Cu-Zn superoxide dismutase, haeme oxygenase-1, pIκBα, inducible NO synthase, cyclo-oxygenase-2 and C-reactive protein in diabetic kidneys effectively. These findings demonstrated that diabetic renal failure was associated with inflammatory responses induced by hyperglycaemia. In addition, results in the study suggest that antioxidant cocktail supplementation may have beneficial effects on diabetic nephropathy through selective reduction of blood glucose levels and inflammatory response" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Dietary Omega-3 Fatty Acid, Ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 Intake, Inflammation, and Survival in Long-term Hemodialysis Patients - Am J Kidney Dis. 2011 Jun 7 - "each 1-unit higher ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 intake was associated with a 0.55-mg/L increase in serum CRP level (P = 0.03). In the fully adjusted model, death HRs for the first (1.7-<7.6), second (7.6-<9.3), third (9.3-<11.3), and fourth (11.3-17.4) quartiles of dietary omega-6 to omega-3 ratio were 0.39 (95% CI, 0.14-1.18), 0.30 (95% CI, 0.09-0.99), 0.67 (95% CI, 0.25-1.79), and 1.00 (reference), respectively (P for trend = 0.06) ... Higher dietary omega-6 to omega-3 ratio appears to be associated with both worsening inflammation over time and a trend toward higher death risk in hemodialysis patients"
• A diet with 35 % of energy from protein leads to kidney damage in female Sprague-Dawley rats - Br J Nutr. 2011 May 3:1-8 - "High-protein (HP) diets for weight loss remain popular despite questions surrounding overall safety. In a recent study using the pig model, we showed that long-term intakes from whole proteins at 35 % energy (en %) cause moderate renal histological damage. To examine whether this observation may be species specific or more generalisable, the effect of this diet in rats was examined ... Rats consuming the HP diet had 17 % higher kidney weights (P < 0.0001), three times higher proteinuria (P < 0.0001) and 27 % higher creatinine clearance (P = 0.0012) compared with those consuming the NP diet. Consistent with this, HP-fed rats had larger glomeruli (P < 0.0001) and more glomerulosclerosis (P = 0.0003) compared with NP-fed rats. The HP diet also resulted in altered levels of free monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (P < 0.0001). The histological changes are consistent with those observed in the pig model. In contrast to the pig model, the elevated proteinuria and creatinine clearance observed in the rat model are also usually observed with HP consumption in human subjects. These results indicate that the rat is a useful model for HP effects on the kidney and, along with previous results using the pig model, suggest that long-term intake of high levels of protein may be detrimental to renal health"
• Curcumin attenuates lipopolysaccharide-induced renal inflammation - Biol Pharm Bull. 2011;34(2):226-32 - "Renal inflammation is the main pathological change in many acute and chronic kidney diseases. Curcumin, a yellow pigment present in the rhizome of turmeric (Curcuma longa L. Zingiberaceae), was found to be a potential anti-inflammatory agent ... The results demonstrated that curcumin could inhibit LPS-induced renal MCP-1 mRNA expression. Curcumin also significantly inhibited the expression of MCP-1 and IL-2 mRNA in HK-2 cells, and partially inhibited the secretion of MCP-1 and IL-8. Furthermore, curcumin was found to inhibit the DNA-binding activity of NF-κB. The present study demonstrated that curcumin has a protective effect on LPS-induced experimental renal inflammation, and this effect might be attributed to its inhibitory effects on MCP-1 mRNA expression and DNA-binding activity of NF-κB. Hence, curcumin might be potentially useful in some kidney diseases by preventing renal inflammation" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.
• A Tomato Lycopene Complex Protects the Kidney From Cisplatin-Induced Injury via Affecting Oxidative Stress as Well as Bax, Bcl-2, and HSPs Expression - Nutr Cancer. 2011 Mar 4:1 - "These results suggest that tomato lycopene complex has protective effects against cisplatin-induced nephrotoxicity and lipid peroxidation in rats" - See Jarrow Lyco-Sorb (contains Lyco-O-Mato) at Amazon.com.
• Consumption of long-chain n-3 PUFA, α-linolenic acid and fish is associated with the prevalence of chronic kidney disease - Br J Nutr. 2011 Jan 24:1-8 - "The highest compared with the lowest quartile of fish consumption was associated with a reduced likelihood of CKD (OR 0.68, 95 % CI 0.48, 0.97; P for trend = 0.02). The present study shows that an increased dietary intake of long-chain n-3 PUFA and fish reduces the prevalence of CKD. Hence, a diet rich in n-3 PUFA and fish could have a role in maintaining healthy kidney function, in addition to roles of these nutrients in the prevention and modulation of other diseases" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Carbohydrate Nutrition Is Associated with the 5-Year Incidence of Chronic Kidney Disease - J Nutr. 2011 Jan 12 - "participants in the 4th quartile of mean dietary GI intake compared with those in the first quartile (reference) had a 55% increased likelihood of having eGFR < 60 mL⋅min(-1)⋅1.73 m(-2) [multivariable-adjusted OR = 1.55 (95% CI = 1.07-2.26); P-trend = 0.01]. After multivariable adjustment, participants in the 4th quartile of dietary cereal fiber intake compared with those in the first quartile (reference) had a 50% reduced risk of incident moderate CKD (P-trend = 0.03). Higher baseline consumption of energy-dense, nutrient-poor sources of carbohydrate (e.g. cookies) yielded a 3-fold higher risk of incident CKD (P-trend = 0.01). In summary, we observed a novel link between high cereal fiber intake and reduced incidence of moderate CKD and this was supported by the cross-sectional association with dietary GI. Conversely, our data suggest that higher intake of energy-dense, nutrient-poor sources of carbohydrate, potentially through acute hyperglycemia, could impair renal function"
• Pomegranate juice reduces damage to tissues, inflammation and infections, study suggests - Science Daily, 11/19/10 - "[dialysis] patients who drank pomegranate juice experienced reduced inflammation and the damage of oxidative stress caused by free radicals, was minimized. Furthermore, pomegranate juice drinkers were less likely to be hospitalized due to infections ... those who drank pomegranate juice also showed an improvement in cardiovascular risk factors, such as reduced blood pressure, improvement in lipid profile and fewer cardiovascular events, suggesting that they had better heart health" - See pomegranate at Amazon.com.
• Chromium picolinate may lessen inflammation in diabetic nephropathy; Supplement linked to decreased protein in the urine of diabetic mice - Science Daily, 9/22/10 - "mice who received the supplement had lower levels of albuminuria (protein in the urine), an indication of kidney disease ... the treated diabetic mice, who were fed the diet with chromium picolinate, excreted about half as much albumin compared to their untreated diabetic counterparts" - See chromium supplements at Amazon.com.
• Pilot study of probiotic dietary supplementation for promoting healthy kidney function in patients with chronic kidney disease - Adv Ther. 2010 Aug 16 - "Oral ingestion of probiotics (90 billion colony forming units [CFUs]/day) was well tolerated and safe during the entire trial period at all sites. BUN levels decreased in 29 patients (63%, P<0.05), creatinine levels decreased in 20 patients (43%, no statistical significance), and uric acid levels decreased in 15 patients (33%, no statistical significance). Almost all subjects expressed a perceived substantial overall improvement in QOL (86%, P<0.05)" - See probiotics at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D deficiency is associated with sudden cardiac death, combined cardiovascular events, and mortality in haemodialysis patients - Eur Heart J. 2010 Aug 5 - "sudden cardiac death (SCD) ... Patients with severe vitamin D deficiency [25(OH)D of</= 25 nmol/L] had a 3-fold higher risk of SCD compared with those with sufficient 25(OH)D levels >75 nmol/L [HR: 2.99, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.39-6.40]. Furthermore, CVE and all-cause mortality were strongly increased (HR: 1.78, 95% CI: 1.18-2.69, and HR: 1.74, 95% CI: 1.22-2.47, respectively), all persisting in multivariate models. There were borderline non-significant associations with stroke and fatal infection while MI and deaths due to heart failure were not meaningfully affected. Conclusion Severe vitamin D deficiency was strongly associated with SCD, CVE, and mortality, and there were borderline associations with stroke and fatal infection" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Long-Term High Intake of Whole Proteins Results in Renal Damage in Pigs - J Nutr. 2010 Jul 28 - "These findings suggest that long-term intakes of protein at the upper limit of the AMDR from whole protein sources may compromise renal health"
• Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids in the Treatment of Kidney Disease - Am J Kidney Dis. 2010 May 19 - "guidelines suggest that omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids should be considered in progressive IgA nephropathy. Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids decrease blood pressure, a known accelerant of kidney disease progression" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Omega-3 intakes may improve diabetic kidney health - Nutra USA, 4/12/10 - "Albumin is the most abundant protein in human serum and in people with kidney problems the protein leaks from the kidney into the urine. A level of 30 mg per 24 hours is reportedly representative of sufficient function ... people with a higher average intake of omega-3s had albumin excretion levels 22.7 mg per 24 hours lower than people with the lowest average intakes of omega-3" - [Abstract] - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Dietary intake of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and diabetic nephropathy - cohort analysis of the Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) - Diabetes Care. 2010 Mar 31 - "In a mean follow-up of 6.5 years, we observed a lower mean UAER [difference 22.7 mg/24 hr (95% CI 1.6, 43.8)] in the top vs. bottom third of dietary n-3 LC-PUFAs, but found no association with incident albuminuria ... Dietary n-3 LC-PUFAs appear inversely associated with the degree, but not with the incidence of albuminuria in type 1 diabetes" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Pine bark extract may benefit blood pressure-related kidney health - Nutra USA, 3/5/10 - "55 hypertensive patients to participate in the randomized, controlled study. Subjects were assigned to receive Ramipril [an ACE inhibitor] (10 mg per day), and 29 of these people were randomly selected to also receive Pycnogenol (150 mg per day) ... After six months in the Ramipril-only group the albumin levels decreased by 26 per cent to 64 mg per 24-hour period, while additional Pycnogenol produced levels that averaged 39 mg per 24-hour period, equivalent to a 57 per cent decrease ... Statistically significant decreases in patients’ blood pressure were also observed, with systolic and diastolic blood pressures dropping by more than 30 and 8 per cent, respectively in the Ramipril-only group, and by a further 3 to 6 per cent in the combination group ... Diastolic and systolic blood flow improved by 8 and 12 per cent, in the combination group" - [Abstract] - See Pycnogenol at Amazon.com.
• Kidney flow and function in hypertension: protective effects of pycnogenol in hypertensive participants--a controlled study - J Cardiovasc Pharmacol Ther. 2010 Mar;15(1):41-6 - "evaluated the effects of Pycnogenol as an adjunct to angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE)-inhibitor ramipril treatment of hypertensive patients presenting with early signs of renal function problems. One group of 26 patients was medicated with 10 mg ramipril per day only; a second group of 29 patients took Pycnogenol in addition to the ACE inhibitor over a period of 6 months ... Urinary albumin decreased from 87 +/- 23 to 64 +/- 16 mg/d with ramipril only. Additional Pycnogenol lowered albumin significantly better from 91 +/- 25 to 39 +/- 13 mg/day (P < .05). In both groups, serum creatinine was lowered; however, only in the combination treatment group did the effect reached statistical significance. In both groups, CRP levels decreased from 2.1 to 1.8 with ramipril and from 2.2 to 1.1 with the ramipril-Pycnogenol combination; the latter reached statistical significance. Kidney cortical flow velocity was investigated by Doppler color duplex ultrasonography. Both systolic and diastolic flow velocities increased significantly after 6 months medication with ramipril. The addition of Pycnogenol to the regimen statistically significantly further enhanced kidney cortical flow velocities, by 8% for diastolic flow and 12% for systolic flow, relative to values found for the group taking ramipril only" - See Pycnogenol at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D deficiency likely among some kidney disease patients starting dialysis - Science Daily, 2/25/10
• Risks from low potassium in heart failure patients with chronic kidney disease - Science Daily, 2/22/10 - "In findings reported in January in Circulation: Heart Failure, a journal of the American Heart Association, the researchers say that even a mild decrease in serum potassium level increased the risk of death in this patient group ... Hypokalemia, or low potassium, is common in heart-failure patients and is associated with poor outcomes, as is chronic kidney disease ... Death occurred in 48 percent of the patients with hypokalemia during the 57-month follow-up period, compared with only 36 percent of patients with normal potassium. The vast majority of subjects, 87 percent, had mild hypokalemia" - See potassium citrate at Amazon.com.
• Fish-oil supplement has neutral effects on vascular and metabolic function but improves renal function in patients with Type 2 diabetes mellitus - Diabet Med. 2010 Jan;27(1):54-60 - "serum creatinine was lower (-4.5 mumol/l, P = 0.01) in fish-oil-treated patients as compared with control subjects" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Omega-3 may boost kidney health in diabetics: Study - Nutra USA, 2/3/10 - "Our results showed a significant decrease in serum creatinine level after fish-oil supplement in Type 2 diabetes mellitus patients" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Lack of Exercise Linked to Increased Mortality in Chronic Kidney Disease - Medscape, 10/19/09
• Ascorbic Acid for Anemia Management in Hemodialysis Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis - Am J Kidney Dis. 2009 Sep 22 - "Combining the 3 randomized clinical trials involving patients with baseline hemoglobin levels <11 g/dL, change in hemoglobin level was greater for ascorbic acid use compared with standard care (WMD, 0.9 g/dL; 95% CI, 0.5-1.2 g/dL). Compared with standard care, ascorbic acid use also was associated with a statistically significant decrease in rHuEPO dose (WMD, -17.1 U/kg/wk; 95% CI, -26.0 to -8.2 U/kg/wk) and improvement in transferrin saturation (WMD, 7.9%; 95% CI, 5.2-10.5%), with no change in ferritin concentration"
• The effects of [omega]3 fatty acids and coenzyme Q10 on blood pressure and heart rate in chronic kidney disease: a randomized controlled trial - J Hypertens. 2009 Sep;27(9):1863-72 - "patients were randomized to either omega3FA (4 g), CoQ (200 mg), both supplements or control (4 g), daily for 8 weeks ... omega3FA, but not CoQ, reduced 24-h ambulatory heart rate (P<0.0001) and blood pressure ... omega3FA reduced triglycerides 24%" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• The effect of n-3 long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation on urine protein excretion and kidney function: meta-analysis of clinical trials - Am J Clin Nutr. 2009 Apr 29 - "The dose of n-3 LCPUFAs ranged from 0.7 to 5.1 g/d, and the median follow-up was 9 mo. In the pooled analysis, there was a greater reduction in UPE in the n-3 LCPUFA group than in the control group: Cohen's d for all trials was -0.19 (95% CI: -0.34, -0.04; P = 0.01). In a patient with 1 g UPE/d , this corresponds to a reduction of 190 mg/d. Effects on GFR were reported in 12 trials. The decline in GFR was slower in the n-3 LCPUFA group than in the control group, but this effect was not significant (0.11; 95% CI: -0.07, 0.29; P = 0.24)" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Benefits Dialysis Patients - Medscape, 4/1/09 - "Over-the-counter vitamin D supplementation improves serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D levels in patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis, without raising serum calcium or phosphorus levels ... Studies in healthy patients have provided supplementation up to 10,000 IU a day with no observed adverse effects" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• High Dietary Fibre Intake Associated With Decreased Inflammation in Chronic and Non-Chronic Kidney Disease Patients - Doctor's Guide, 3/30/09 - "when compared with patients in the high dietary fibre intake group, those in the low intake group had significantly increased odds of inflammation in both the CKD and non-CKD subgroups ... In the low fibre intake group, CKD patients showed 51% inflammation versus 37% in the high intake group (P < .05). The non-CKD population showed 29% inflammation with low fibre intake versus 20% with high intake"
• Vitamin D Deficiency Prevalent in Children With Chronic Kidney Disease - Medscape, 3/5/09 - "The prevalence of deficiency in this contemporary study group was 39%"
• N-acetylcysteine versus AScorbic acid for Preventing contrast-Induced nephropathy in patients with renal insufficiency undergoing coronary angiography NASPI study-a prospective randomized controlled trial - Am Heart J. 2009 Mar;157(3):576-583 - "High-dose NAC seems more beneficial than ascorbic acid in preventing contrast-induced renal function deterioration in patients, especially diabetic patients, with renal insufficiency undergoing coronary angiography" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Chewing Chitosan-Loaded Gum Reduces Phosphate Levels in ESRD Patients - Medscape, 2/16/09 - "Chewing chitosan-loaded gum twice daily can significantly decrease salivary phosphate and serum phosphate levels in hemodialysis patients and may help improve treatment for hyperphosphatemia ... At week 1, the patients’ salivary phosphate levels had decreased from 73.21 to 52.02 mg/dL (P < .01), and serum levels decreased from 7.60 to 5.38 mg/dL (P < .00001). After 2 weeks, salivary phosphate levels were reduced to 33.19 mg/dL (P < .00001) and serum levels decreased to 5.25 mg/dL" - See chitosan products at iHerb.
• Protective Effect of Quercetin against Gentamicin-Induced Nephrotoxicity in Rats - Pharm Bull. 2009 Jan;32(1):61-7 - "Gentamicin (GM) is an antibiotic widely used in treating severe gram-negative infections. However, its clinical use is limited by its nephrotoxicity ... Histopathological examination of GM-treated rats revealed degenerative changes in glomeruli and tubules. On the other hand, simultaneous administration of quercetin plus gentamicin protected kidney tissues against nephrotoxic effects of gentamicin as evidenced from amelioration of histopathological changes and normalization of kidney biochemical parameters" - See quercetin at Amazon.com.
• Dietary trans-10, cis-12 Conjugated Linoleic Acid Reduces Early Glomerular Enlargement and Elevated Renal Cyclooxygenase-2 Levels in Young Obese fa/fa Zucker Rats - J Nutr. 2008 Dec 23 - "Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) slows the progression of disease in models of chronic kidney disease ... To examine specific isomer effects, study 2 used the same model with the following diets: 0.4% (g/g) cis-9, trans-11 (c9,t11) CLA; 0.4% trans-10, cis-12 (t10,c12) CLA; a combination of these 2 isomers (0.4% each); or CTL diets with no CLA. In study 1, fa/fa rats given the CLA mixture had 11% smaller kidney weights and 28% smaller glomeruli, and feed intake and body weight did not differ from the CTL rats. In study 2, diet also did not affect body weights, but fa/fa rats given a diet containing t10,c12 CLA had 7% lower kidney weights, 20% smaller glomeruli, and 39% lower COX-2 protein levels than CTL rats. In conclusion, dietary t10,c12 CLA reduces the enlargement of glomeruli in young obesity-associated nephropathy and is associated with lower protein levels of renal COX-2" - See conjugated linoleic acid at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin B1 Could Reverse Early-stage Kidney Disease In Diabetes Patients - Science Daily, 12/8/08 - "the team show 300 mg of thiamine taken orally each day for three months reduced the rate of albumin excretion in type 2 diabetes patients. The albumin excretion rate was decreased by 41% from the value at the start of the study. The results also showed 35% of patients with microalbuminuria saw a return to normal urinary albumin excretion after being treated with thiamine ... were randomly assigned a placebo or 3 x 100mg tablets of thiamine a day for three months"
• Diabetes Patients: Fish May Help Kidneys - WebMD, 11/4/08 - "fish consumption lowers abnormal levels of protein in the urine in people with diabetes ... Abnormal amounts of protein appear in the urine when the kidneys are damaged; it's a key indicator of kidney disease ... Leslie Spry, MD, a kidney specialist in Lincoln, Neb., who serves as a National Kidney Foundation spokesman, says he typically doesn't tell patients to eat more fish but recommends fish oil supplements to control triglycerides (blood fats)" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com and Jarrow Max DHA at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D and glucose metabolism in chronic kidney disease - Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens. 2008 Nov;17(6):566-72 - "Vitamin D therapy holds promise for improving health outcomes in chronic kidney disease. Improved glucose metabolism is one potential mechanism through which vitamin D may exert beneficial effects" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Oral active vitamin D is associated with improved survival in hemodialysis patients - Kidney Int. 2008 Jul 16 - "Our study shows that hemodialysis patients receiving oral active vitamin D had a survival advantage inversely related to the vitamin dose" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Promising Against IgA Nephropathy - Medscape, 6/3/08 - "The patients were given oral calcitriol 0.5 mcg twice weekly for 12 weeks. The team found a progressive decrease in urine protein-creatinine ratio from 1.98 g/g to 0.81 g/g during the first 6 weeks. This persisted throughout the study period ... There was a simultaneous decrease in serum TGF-beta level, and the percentage of decrease in serum TGF-beta level significantly correlated with percentage of change in proteinuria" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Linked to Reduced Mortality Rate in Chronic Kidney Disease - Doctor's Guide, 5/7/08 - "For patients with moderate to severe chronic kidney disease (CKD), treatment with activated vitamin D may reduce the risk of death by approximately one-fourth" - See vitamin D at Amazon.com.
• Kidney damage after renal ablation is worsened in endothelial nitric oxide synthase (-/-) mice and improved by combined administration of L-arginine and antioxidants - Nephrology (Carlton). 2008 Jun;13(3):218-27 - "A combination of L-arginine and antioxidant treatment ameliorated renal damage"
• Calcitriol May Improve Survival in Predialysis Chronic Kidney Disease - Medscape, 2/25/08
• N-Acetylcysteine prevents ifosfamide-induced nephrotoxicity in rats - Br J Pharmacol. 2008 Feb 18 - "NAC markedly reduces the severity of renal dysfunction induced by ifosfamide with a significant decrease in elevations of serum creatinine (57.8+/-2.3 vs 45.25+/-2.1 mumol l(-1)) as well as a reduced elevation of beta(2)-microglobulin excretion (25.44+/-3.3 vs 8.83+/-1.3 nmol l(-1)) and magnesium excretion (19.5+/-1.5 vs 11.16+/-1.5 mmol l(-1)). Moreover, NAC significantly improved the ifosfamide-induced glutathione depletion and the decrease of glutathione S-transferase activity, lowered the elevation of lipid peroxides and prevented typical morphological damages in renal tubules and glomeruli" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Before A CT Scan Or Angiogram, Many People Should Take Inexpensive Drug To Protect Kidneys - Science Daily, 2/18/08 - "The inexpensive drug, called N-acetylcysteine, can prevent serious kidney damage that can be caused by the iodine-containing "dyes" that doctors use to enhance the quality of such scans ... N-acetylcysteine is already widely used to clear mucus in cystic fibrosis patients, and to treat overdoses of acetaminophen" - See n-acetyl cysteine at Amazon.com.
• Effect of green tea on kidney tubules of diabetic rats - Br J Nutr. 2008 Feb 6;:1-8 - "It has been documented that green tea (GT) and its catechin components improve renal failure and inhibit the growth of mesangial cells ... GT treatment significantly (P < 0.01) reduced the serum glucose, glycosylated protein, serum creatinine and blood urea N levels by 29.6 (sem 3.7), 22.7 (sem 5.2), 38.9 (sem 10) and 41.7 (sem 1.9) %, respectively ... the GT-treated group showed a significant 44 (sem 10.8) % higher creatinine clearance (Ccr) ... GT reduced the urea N, creatinine, glucose and protein excretion rates by 30 (sem 7.6), 35.4 (sem 5.3), 34.0 (sem 5.3) and 46.0 (sem 13.0) % compared with the 12 weeks diabetic group. Administration of GT to 12 weeks diabetic rats significantly (P < 0.001) prevented (99.98 (sem 0.27) % less) the accumulation of glycogen in the kidney tubules. These results indicate that in STZ diabetes, kidney function appears to be improved with GT consumption which also prevents glycogen accumulation in the renal tubules, probably by lowering blood levels of glucose. Therefore, GT could be beneficial additional therapy in the management of diabetic nephropathy" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Renoprotective action of l-carnitine in fructose-induced metabolic syndrome - Diabetes Obes Metab. 2007 Dec 17 - "l-carnitine (CA) administration ... The benefits of CA in this model suggest the therapeutic use of CA to counter the kidney changes associated with metabolic syndrome" - See l-carnitine at Amazon.com.
• Protective Effects of Bilberry (Vaccinium myrtillus L.) Extract on KBrO3-Induced Kidney Damage in Mice - J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Dec 20 - "bilberry extract reduced the degree of oxidative stress and kidney damage induced by KBrO 3. These findings demonstrate that the protective effect of bilberry extract is attributed to its free radical scavenging activity and lipid peroxidation inhibitory effect" - See bilberry at Amazon.com.
• Guanidino Compounds After Creatine Supplementation in Renal Failure Patients and their Relation to Inflammatory Status - Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2007 Nov 29 - "Specific guanidino compounds have been described as uraemic toxins and their concentrations are increased in renal failure due to dimished glomerular filtration, whereas the guanidino compound creatine is used as a performance-enhancing substance in athletes. The present study investigates the effects of creatine supplementation on plasma guanidino compounds in a chronic haemodialysis population ... Patients were treated with creatine (2 g/day) or placebo during two treatment periods of 4 weeks ... Upon creatine supplementation, guanidinoacetate concentrations decreased by 15%, due to inhibition of creatine synthesis. Concentrations of alpha-keto-delta-guanidinovaleric acid increased three-fold and argininic acid concentrations doubled" - See creatine at Amazon.com.
• Effect of Curcumin on Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Cisplatin-Induced Experimental Nephrotoxicity - J Agric Food Chem. 2007 Nov 15 - "curcumin has a protective effect on cisplatin-induced experimental nephrotoxicity, and this effect is attributed to its direct anti-inflammatory and strong antioxidant profile. Hence, curcumin has a strong potential to be used as a therapeutic adjuvant in cisplatin nephrotoxicity" - See curcumin products at Amazon.com.
• Chronic green tea extract supplementation reduces hemodialysis-enhanced production of hydrogen peroxide and hypochlorous acid, atherosclerotic factors, and proinflammatory cytokines - Am J Clin Nutr. 2007 Nov;86(5):1539-47 - "Catechins reduce hemodialysis-induced production of hydrogen peroxide and hypochlorous acid, atherosclerotic disease risk factors, and proinflammation" - See green tea extract at Amazon.com.
• Metabolic effects of two low protein diets in chronic kidney disease stage 4 5 a randomized controlled trial - Nephrol Dial Transplant. 2007 Nov 2 - "in CKD patients a protein intake of 0.55g/kg/day, compared with a 0.8g/kg/day, guarantees a better metabolic control and a reduced need of drugs, without a substantial risk of malnutrition"
• Fish oil attenuates adrenergic overactivity without altering glucose metabolism during an oral glucose load in haemodialysis patients - Br J Nutr. 2007 Nov 1;:1-7 - "Fish oil decreases adrenal activation induced by mental stress and has an insulin sensitizing effect in healthy subjects ... Fish oil supplementation blunted both re-increase in thermogenic response and concomitant increase in plasma epinephrine, but not in plasma norepinephrine, over the last 2 h of the experiment. Fish oil did not alter either whole-body glucose metabolism or substrate oxidation. These data show that in haemodialysis patients, fish oil attenuates adrenal overactivity induced by oral glucose but does not modulate whole-body glucose metabolism and insulin sensitivity"
• Relationship between vitamin D and muscle size and strength in patients on hemodialysis - J Ren Nutr. 2007 Nov;17(6):397-407 - "Treatment with active vitamin D was associated with greater muscle size and strength in this cohort of HD patients"
• Serum levels of folate and cobalamin are lower in depressed than in nondepressed hemodialysis subjects - J Ren Nutr. 2007 Sep;17(5):343-9 - "As with the general population, lower serum folate, RBC folate, and serum cobalamin levels were found in depressed as compared to nondepressed subjects on HD. Plasma levels of these vitamins may be one of many factors related to depression, but larger studies with stronger designs are needed to confirm the results of this study"
• Gamma-tocopherol and docosahexaenoic acid decrease inflammation in dialysis patients - J Ren Nutr. 2007 Sep;17(5):296-304 - "gamma tocopherol (308 mg) and DHA (800 mg) ... In the treatment group, but not in the placebo group, there were significant decreases in IL-6 (21.4 +/- 3.5 to 16.8 +/- 3.7 pg/mL), white blood cell (WBC) count (7.4 +/- 0.3 to 6.9 +/- 0.4 10(3)/microL), and neutrophil fraction of WBCs (4.8 +/- 0.3 to 4.4 +/- 0.3 10(3)/microL), at P < .05 for all"
• Vitamin D levels and early mortality among incident hemodialysis patients - Kidney Int. 2007 Aug 8 - "Compared to patients with the highest 25D or 1,25D levels who received therapy, untreated deficient patients were at significantly increased risk for early mortality"
• Effect of n-3 fatty acids on nutritional status and inflammatory markers in haemodialysis patients - Nephrology (Carlton). 2007 Aug;12(4):331-6 - "There was a significant increase in EPA (P = 0.01) after treatment, and there was a significant decrease in inflammatory markers (IL-6 and TNF-alpha, P = 0.0001) after supplementation in the tested group ... A dietary regime with fish oil could be used in dialysis patients to slow down the development of atherosclerosis and improve nutritional parameters"
• Effects of folic acid and vitamin B complex on serum C-reactive protein and albumin levels in stable hemodialysis patients - Curr Med Res Opin. 2007 Jun 29 - "Folic acid and vitamin B complex co-administration effectively lowers tHcy and hs-CRP levels and increases albumin levels in stable hemodialysis subjects, underscoring their potential benefit to attenuate the state of inflammation and possibly improve the nutritional status in patients on hemodialysis"
• Diabetics With Kidney Disease Lack Vitamin D - Doctor's Guide, 6/5/07 - "Diabetic patients with chronic kidney disease have insufficient levels of vitamin D compared to their non-diabetic counterparts, both before and after treatment, suggesting increased vitamin D supplementation may be necessary in diabetic patients who have chronic kidney disease"
• Fish Oil May Help Kidney Disease Sufferers - Science Daily, 4/30/07 - "daily doses of fish oil in the form of a tablet or liquid had been shown to decrease inflammation - a common problem in people with kidney disease" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
• Vitamin D Insufficiency and Deficiency in Patients With End-Stage Renal Disease: the Role and Effect of Vitamin D Analogues on Survival - Medscape, 3/30/07
• Vitamin D and outcomes in chronic kidney disease - Curr Opin Nephrol Hypertens. 2007 Mar;16(2):77-82 - "Data currently suggests that the administration of vitamin D confers a survival benefit to patients on dialysis. There is no clear mechanism, however, to explain this association"
• Folic acid 5 or 15 mg/d similarly reduces plasma homocysteine in patients with moderate-advanced chronic renal failure - Nephrology (Carlton). 2006 Apr;11(2):137-41
• Severe vitamin D deficiency in chronic renal failure patients on peritoneal dialysis - Clin Nephrol. 2006 Oct;66(4):247-55 - "Vitamin D deficiency is more common in DM-CRF patients than in non-DM-CRF patients. Our findings suggest that these patients should be considered for vitamin D supplementation"
• Carnitine Treatment Improved Quality-of-Life Measure in a Sample of Midwestern Hemodialysis Patients - JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 2006 Jan-Feb;30(1):10-5 - "24 weeks of IV carnitine therapy, SF-36 scores were improved and erythropoietin doses were reduced in hemodialysis patients, relative to the control group" - See l-carnitine at Amazon.com.
• Effects of Herbal Supplements on the Kidney - Medscape, 11/14/05
• Hemodialysis Causes Antioxidant Loss Leading to Long-Term Complications - Doctor's Guide, 4/8/05 - "the hemodialysis process can cause loss of these necessary antioxidants"
• Vitamin D Injections May Significantly Improve Survival In Dialysis Patients - Science Daily, 3/11/05 - "At the end of the two-year study period, 76 percent of those receiving any form of activated vitamin D were still alive, compared with 59 percent of those not receiving the therapy"
• Dialysis Patients: Longer Lives With Vitamin D? - WebMD, 3/1/05 - "vitamin D injections, given to patients with kidney failure, results in a significantly reduced risk of death compared to those who do not receive the treatment"
• Preventing Kidney Disease? - Dr. Weil, 1/28/05
• No Difference between N-Acetylcysteine and Fenoldopam for Thwarting Contrast-Induced Nephropathy - Doctor's Guide, 11/8/04 - "A randomized study failed to show a significant difference in the ability of oral N-acetylcysteine (NAC) and intravenous fenoldopam (FEN) to prevent the deterioration in renal function"
• Vitamin D Insufficiency and Deficiency in Chronic Kidney Disease. A Single Center Observational Study - Am J Nephrol. 2004 Sep 22;24(5):503-510 - "In the group undergoing maintenance hemodialyis, we found that 97% of the patients had vitamin D levels in the suboptimal range ... vitamin D insufficiency and deficiency are highly prevalent in patients with CKD and may play a role in the development of hyperparathyroidism"
• Soy Benefits Type 2 Diabetes - WebMD, 8/3/04 - "Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure.  The earliest sign of this complication is small amounts of protein in urine ... Those who added the soy protein powder to their diets had a 10% reduction in protein found in urine ... the soy protein supplement boosted "good" HDL cholesterol by 4%" - [Abstract]
• Innovative Research and Applications for CoQ10 - Life Extension Magazine, 8/04 - "biomedical researchers are discovering that CoQ10 shows promising effects against disorders as far-ranging as kidney failure, heart disease, muscular dystrophy, and macular degeneration"
• The role of fish oil/omega-3 fatty acids in the treatment of IgA nephropathy - Semin Nephrol. 2004 May;24(3):225-43 - "treatment for 2 years with a daily dose of 1.8 g of EPA and 1.2 g of DHA slowed the progression of renal disease in high-risk patients" - See Mega Twin EPA at Amazon.com.
• Intravenous administration of vitamin B12 in the treatment of hyperhomocysteinemia associated with end-stage renal disease - J Nephrol. 2003 Jul-Aug;16(4):535-9 - "Our results suggest that ESRD patients on dialysis have 'B12 resistance', and that they should have, in addition to their FOL therapeutic regimen, i.v. B12 treatment to reduce their elevated tHcy levels"
• Can Broccoli Prevent Lupus? - WebMD, 11/6/03 - "I3C is believed to act as an anti-estrogen ... I3C-fed mice had far fewer kidney problems than the mice whose diets were not supplemented, and researchers say this is the reason that they lived much longer. Kidney disease is one of the main, life-threatening complications of lupus" - See iHerb I3C products.
• Vitamin B12 Improves Homocysteine Levels and Lipid Profiles in Patients with End-Stage Renal Disease - Doctor's Guide, 10/6/03 - "During Phase 1, patients were prescribed oral doses of folic acid 5 mg/day and vitamin B12 0.6mg/day. Through out Phase 2, participants were given intravenous doses of vitamin B12 1mg every other day in addition to folic acid 5 mg/day ... By the completion of the study, patients exhibited significantly lower serum tHcy (29.4 verses 21.1 mg/dL), total cholesterol (222 verses 196 mg/dL), and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels (139 versus 109 mg/dL). Serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol levels increased significantly among the participants"
• Benefits of fish oil supplementation for hemodialysis patients - J Am Diet Assoc. 2003 Sep;103(9):1174-7 - "One study indicated that pruritus symptoms improved with fish oil supplementation, but not with supplementation with two other oils. In a study designed to determine whether fish oils could prevent vascular access graft thrombosis, graft patency rates were approximately 76% in the fish oil and approximately 15% in the placebo group (P>.03). In a pilot study, subjects given fish oil required 16% less erythropoietin and experienced a 3.6% increase in serum albumin levels"
• Vitamin E supplementation increases LDL resistance to ex vivo oxidation in hemodialysis patients - Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2003 Jul;73(4):290-6 - "Since oral vitamin E supplementation prevents oxidative stress and significantly increases LDL resistance to ex vivo oxidation, supplementation by natural antioxidants such as vitamin E may be beneficial in hemodialysis patients"
• Thiol-Containing Antioxidant Shows Promise in Preventing Contrast Nephropathy - Doctor's Guide, 8/25/03 - "Treatment with acetylcysteine, a thiol-containing antioxidant, shows promise in preventing contrast nephropathy in patients with chronic renal insufficiency"
• Does High Cholesterol Harm Your Kidneys? - Dr. Weil, 8/22/03 - "apparently healthy men with low HDL (high density lipoprotein), the “good” cholesterol, and high LDL (low density lipoprotein) or “bad” cholesterol and triglycerides have twice the normal risk of reduced kidney function ... You can raise HDL by increasing exercise, drinking alcohol moderately, and eating only healthy fats (monounsaturates such as olive oil and omega-3s from sources like salmon and sardines). Taking prescription statin drugs also will help, although I prefer natural alternatives such as red rice yeast"
• Coenzyme Q10 Beneficial for People with Kidney Failure - New Hope Natural Media, 7/17/03
• N-Acetyl Cysteine Prevents Kidney Damage from Coronary Procedure - New Hope Natural Media, 5/1/03 - "Up to 15% of people undergoing coronary angiography may experience kidney damage from the contrast dye ... randomly assigned to receive either 600 mg of oral NAC twice a day on the day before and the day of the procedure or a similar looking placebo ... Only 4% of those taking NAC, compared with 12% of those taking the placebo, experienced a 25% increase in blood creatinine within 48 hours of receiving the contrast dye" - See iHerb NAC products.
• Vitamin C Reduces Oxidant Stress In Renal Failure - Doctor's Guide, 3/26/03 - "The acute administration of vitamin C reduces oxidant stress in renal failure, and improves nitric oxide-mediated resistance-vessel dilatation ... In addition, vitamin C was found to increase the dilator response to acetylcholine in resistance vessels"
• High-Protein Diets Can Hurt Kidneys - WebMD, 3/17/03
• Remember Sodium? We're Still Getting Too Much - Intelihealth, 3/14/03 - "High sodium levels also raise the risk of osteoporosis and kidney problems"
• Cardiovascular End Points Reduced With Antioxidant Acetylcysteine In Haemodialysis Patients - Doctor's Guide, 2/28/03 - "They were assigned to receive either acetylcysteine 600 mg twice daily or a placebo ... Primary end point was a composite variable composed of cardiac events that included fatal and non-fatal myocardial infarction, death from cardiovascular disease, necessity for either coronary angioplasty or by-pass surgery, ischaemic stroke, peripheral vascular disease requiring amputation or need for angioplasty ... A primary end point was established in 18 of the 64 [28%] haemodialysed patients who received acetylcysteine, and 33 of 70 [47%] patients undergoing haemodialysis assigned to the control group" - [Abstract] - See iHerb acetyl-l-cysteine products.
• Acetylcysteine for Prevention of Acute Deterioration of Renal Function Following Elective Coronary Angiography and Intervention: A Randomized Controlled Trial - JAMA, 2/5/03 - "Acetylcysteine protects patients with moderate chronic renal insufficiency from contrast-induced deterioration in renal function after coronary angiographic procedures, with minimal adverse effects and at a low cost" - See iHerb acetyl-l-cysteine products.
• Shining a Light on the Health Benefits of Vitamin D - New York Times, 1/28/03 - "His proudest accomplishments, he says, include discoveries that show how activated vitamin D can be used to treat osteoporosis, kidney failure and psoriasis"
• Acetylcysteine Can Reduce Cardiovascular Events in Patients with Endstage Renal Disease - Doctor's Guide, 10/1/02 - "therapy with acetylcysteine appears to significantly reduce cardiovascular events among haemodialysis patients" - See iHerb acetyl-l-cysteine products.
• Acetylcysteine Prevents Renal Problems After Angiography - Doctor's Guide, 3/18/02 - "Changes in creatinine mean values after 48 hours were -0.4 (+/-0.3) and +0.1 (+/-0.3) mg/dL for treatment and control groups, respectively (p<0.001). The benefit was larger in patients with baseline creatinine levels higher than 2 mg/dL, at -0.4 (+/-0.4) compared to +0.5 (+/-0.3) mg/dL (p<0.001)"
• Calcium Supplementation Prevents Bone Loss in Renal Transplant Patients - Doctor's Guide, 5/13/01

Other News:

• Decreased kidney function leads to decreased cognitive functioning, study finds - Science Daily, 11/19/12
• Periodontal Disease and Decreased Kidney Function in Japanese Elderly - Am J Kidney Dis. 2011 Oct 14 - "periodontal inflamed surface area (PISA) ... During the 2-year follow-up (2003-2005), 45 participants (14.2%) developed decreased kidney function. The highest PISA quartile was associated significantly with a greater cumulative incidence of decreased kidney function (OR, 2.24; 95% CI, 1.05-4.79) than the referent group (the other 3 quartiles) after adjusting for covariates"
• Metabolic syndrome may cause kidney disease - Science Daily, 8/19/11 - "A patient is diagnosed with the syndrome when he or she exhibits three or more of the following characteristics: high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat in the waist/abdomen, low good cholesterol, and higher levels of fatty acids (the building blocks of fat) ... People with metabolic syndrome have a 55% increased risk of developing kidney problems, especially lower kidney function, indicative of kidney disease"
• Large waist doubles risk of kidney disease mortality, study finds - Science Daily, 7/13/11 - "For kidney disease patients, a large belt size can double the risk of dying"
• New procedure to eliminate scarring in kidney surgeries - Science Daily, 7/1/11
• Lymphocyte count indicates prognosis of patients with renal cell carcinoma, researchers find - Science Daily, 5/18/11
• Drug effective in treating kidney disease in diabetic patients, study suggests - Science Daily, 4/21/11
• Anti-aging hormone Klotho may prevent complications in chronic kidney disease, research suggests - Science Daily, 2/18/11
• New way to prevent infections in dialysis patients - Science Daily, 1/26/11
• Inhibition of the receptor for advanced glycation endproducts (RAGE) protects pancreatic β-cells - Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2010 Nov 24 - "Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and the receptor for AGEs (RAGE) have been linked to the pathogenesis of diabetic complications, such as retinopathy, neuropathy, and nephropathy. AGEs may induce β-cell dysfunction and apoptosis, another complication of diabetes ... Inhibition of RAGE prevented AGE-induced pancreatic β-cell apoptosis, but could not restore the function of glucose stimulated insulin secretion (GSIS) in rat islets. In summary, the results of the present study demonstrate that AGEs are integrally involved in RAGE-mediated apoptosis and impaired GSIS dysfunction in pancreatic β-cells. Inhibition of RAGE can effectively protect β-cells against AGE-induced apoptosis, but can not reverse islet dysfunction in GSIS"
• Cholesterol drug shows benefits for kidney patients, study suggests - Science Daily, 11/27/10
• Protein in the urine: A warning sign for cognitive decline - Science Daily, 11/21/10 - "low amounts of albumin in the urine, at levels not traditionally considered clinically significant, strongly predict faster cognitive decline in older women ... participants with a urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio of >5 mcg/mg at the start of the study experienced cognitive decline at a rate 2 to 7 times faster in all cognitive measures than that attributed to aging alone over an average 6 years of follow-up"
• Effects of telmisartan added to Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors on mortality and morbidity in hemodialysis patients with chronic heart failure a double-blind, placebo-controlled trial - J Am Coll Cardiol. 2010 Nov 16;56(21):1701-8 - "In hemodialysis patients, CHF is responsible for a high mortality rate ... At 3 years, telmisartan significantly reduced all-cause mortality (35.1% vs. 54.4%; p < 0.001), cardiovascular death (30.3% vs. 43.7%; p < 0.001), and hospital admission for CHF (33.9% vs. 55.1%; p < 0.0001). With Cox proportional hazards analysis, telmisartan was an independent determinant of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.51; 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.32 to 0.82; p < 0.01), cardiovascular mortality (HR: 0.42; 95% CI: 0.38 to 0.61; p < 0.0001), and hospital stay for deterioration of heart failure (HR: 0.38; 95% CI: 0.19 to 0.51; p < 0.0001). Adverse effects, mainly hypotension, occurred in 16.3% of the telmisartan group versus 10.7% in the placebo group" - Note:  It makes me wonder if similar effects on mortality might be seen in people without kidney disease.  See my telmisartan as a first line treatment page.
• Gout drug benefits kidney disease patients, analysis finds - Science Daily, 6/10/10
• Proteinuria May Help Predict Outcomes in Chronic Kidney Disease - Medscape, 2/16/10
• Rapamycin may be potential treatment for kidney disease - Science Daily, 1/25/10
• Small amounts of lead may damage children's kidneys - Science Daily, 1/11/10
• Kidney Function Decline Increases Risk Of Heart Failure And Premature Death - Science Daily, 11/5/09 - "Among 4,378 eligible participants in the study, those with rapid kidney decline (1,083 patients) demonstrated a 32% increased risk of experiencing heart failure, a 48% increased risk of having a heart attack, and a 67% increased risk of developing peripheral arterial disease ... Patients whose kidney function dropped by more than 5.6% per year demonstrated a 30% increased risk of developing heart disease and a 22% increased risk of dying prematurely compared to patients with stable kidney function"
• Diet Sodas May Be Hard on the Kidneys - WebMD, 11/2/09 - "Women who drank two or more diet sodas a day had a 30% drop in a measure of kidney function during the lengthy study follow-up ... Thirty percent is considered significant ... Put another way: the women who drank two or more diet sodas a day had a decline in their glomerular filtration rate, a measure of kidney function, of 3 milliliters per minute per year. ''With natural aging, kidney function declines about 1 mL per minute per year after age 40"
• Impaired Kidney Function Linked To Cognitive Decline In Elderly - Science Daily, 9/29/09 - "poor kidney function, assessed at the beginning of the study, was linked with a more rapid rate of decline in cognition over the next several years – not in visuospatial ability or perceptual speed, but in three specific areas: episodic, semantic and working memory ... The rate of decline in cognition was equivalent to that of a person seven years older at baseline"
• Association of Kidney Function With Coronary Atherosclerosis and Calcification in Autopsy Samples From Japanese Elders: The Hisayama Study - Am J Kidney Dis. 2009 Sep 16 - "The autopsy findings presented here suggest that CKD is associated significantly with severity of coronary atherosclerosis. Patients with CKD should be considered a high-risk population for advanced coronary atherosclerosis"
• Chronic Kidney Disease Linked To Malfunctioning Mitochondria - Science Daily, 8/23/09
• Fresh Meats Often Contain Additives Harmful To Kidney Disease Patients - Science Daily, 7/23/09
• New Approach To Screening For Serious Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 7/7/09
• Low Blood Sugar: Killer For Kidney Disease Patients? - Science Daily, 5/7/09
• More Pills, Less Quality Of Life For Kidney Patients - Science Daily, 5/7/09
• Can Kidney Disease Cause Cancer? - Science Daily, 4/30/09
• Low Creatinine Levels Linked to Diabetes - Medscape, 3/13/09 - "The multiple-adjusted odds ratio for those who had serum creatinine between 0.40 and 0.60 mg/dL was 1.91 compared with those who had levels between 0.71 and 0.80 mg/dL"
• Drug Combination Reduces Kidney Disease Risk In Diabetics - Science Daily, 3/1/09
• Kidney Disease Affects Response To Blood Thinner - Science Daily, 3/1/09
• Hypertension Drug Dramatically Reduces Proteinuria In Kidney Disease Patients - Science Daily, 2/22/09 - "patients taking 128 mg of candesartan experienced more than a 33% reduction in proteinuria compared with those receiving 16 mg candesartan by the end of the study. This reduction was in addition to the reduction in proteinuria that the patients would have had when they first started taking candesartan at 16 mg daily"
• Healthy People With High Urinary Protein Levels Have Elevated Kidney Disease Risk - Science Daily, 2/12/09 - "individuals with high urinary protein levels are at high risk for losing their kidney function and needing dialysis or a kidney transplant. The higher the level of proteins in the urine, the higher the risk of needing dialysis or a kidney transplant and the more rapid the rate of kidney function decline"
• Commonly Used Measure of Chronic Kidney Disease Found Not Cost-Effective - Doctor's Guide, 1/29/09
• Blood Pressure Test Reveals Heart Disease Risk In Patients With Early Stages Of Chronic Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 1/28/09
• Blood And Urine Protein Predicts Chronic Kidney Disease Progression - Science Daily, 1/28/09
• Kidney Donors’ Life Spans Not Shortened - WebMD, 1/28/09
• New Form Of Intravenous Iron Treats Anemia In Chronic Kidney Disease Patients On Dialysis - Science Daily, 1/28/09
• Impaired Kidney Function Raises Risk Of Heart Problems In The Elderly - Science Daily, 1/22/09
• Phosphorus-lowering Drugs Linked To Lower Mortality In Dialysis Patients - Science Daily, 12/17/08
• Diabetes Drug Shows Potential For Treating One Cause Of Chronic Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 12/16/08
• New Equation Provides More Accurate Estimates Of Kidney Function - Science Daily, 11/18/08
• Overnight Hemodialysis Dramatically Improves Survival, Study Shows - Science Daily, 11/8/08
• People Who Develop Kidney Stones Are At Increased Risk For Chronic Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 11/8/08
• Chronic Kidney Disease Increased Sharply In The United States In Past Decade - Science Daily, 10/8/08 - "A 30 percent increase in chronic kidney disease over the past decade has prompted the U.S. Renal Data System (USRDS) to issue for the first time a separate report documenting the magnitude of the disease, which affects an estimated 27 million Americans and accounts for more than 24 percent of Medicare costs"
• High Blood Pressure Takes Big Toll On Small Filtering Units Of The Kidney - Science Daily, 9/19/08
• Healthy People With Elevated Levels Of Uric Acid Are At Risk Of Developing Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 9/17/08 - "Elevated uric acid levels in the blood indicate an increased risk of new-onset kidney disease ... it may be appropriate to prescribe uric acid–lowering drugs, such as allopurinol and probenecid, to these otherwise healthy individuals ... individuals in the slightly elevated uric acid group were 1.26 times as likely to develop kidney disease as those in the low uric acid group. The odds of developing kidney disease among volunteers in the elevated uric acid group were 1.63 times greater than that of individuals in the low uric acid group"
• Fatty Liver Linked To Increased Risk Of Diabetic Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 5/29/08 - "For patients with type 2 diabetes, a condition called non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) may be an important risk factor for diabetes-related chronic kidney disease (CKD)" - See my liver disease page for way to reduce the risk of NAFLD.
• Telmisartan is more effective than losartan in reducing proteinuria in patients with diabetic nephropathy - Kidney Int. 2008 May 21 - "telmisartan is superior to losartan in reducing proteinuria in hypertensive patients with diabetic nephropathy, despite a similar reduction in blood pressure" - Just one more reason I feel telmisartan should be the first line treatment for hypertension if natural methods such as coenzyme Q10 don't work.  See telmisartan at OffshoreRx1.com.
• Angiotensin-Converting Enzyme Inhibitors, Angiotensin Receptor Blockers, or Both for Patients With Proteinuria? A Best Evidence Review - Medscape, 5/20/08 - "Most significantly, the addition of ACEIs to ARBs reduced proteinuria to a greater degree than ARBs alone (ratio of means 0.76 at 1 to 4 months and 0.75 at 5 to 12 months). Combination therapy was also superior to treatment with ACEIs alone ... The 2 important conclusions that can be drawn from this meta-analysis are that ARBs are not superior to ACEIs in improving proteinuria, and that the combination of these 2 treatments appears superior in this outcome compared with either treatment alone ... Two of the biggest safety concerns regarding the combination therapy include the risks for hyperkalemia and acute worsening of renal function. A review of the literature, however, suggests that these risks may not be significantly worse with combination treatment vs monotherapy"
• Creatinine Increase In Elderly Means Increased Renal Disease, Mortality, Study Shows - Science Daily, 4/15/08
• Uric Acid May Provide Early Clues To Diabetic Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 3/18/08
• ACE Inhibitors vs ARBs in HTN and in CKD - Medscape, 1/4/08 - "In the setting of chronic kidney disease (CKD), concludes the other study, which is a meta-analysis, ACE inhibitor and ARB monotherapy are similarly effective at reducing proteinuria, but a combination of the two angiotensin-2-suppressing drugs works better than either agent individually [2]. But a blanket recommendation to combine them would be premature, according to the authors, because there is little evidence that the combination would improve clinical outcomes over monotherapy, and the safety of such combination therapy is largely undefined"
• Periodontal Disease Is Associated With Chronic Kidney Disease - Medscape, 1/30/08 - "subjects with periodontal disease and those who were edentulous were nearly twice as likely to have CKD (adjusted odds ratios, 1.60 and 1.85, respectively)"
• Breakdown Of Kidney's Ability To Clean Its Own Filters Likely Causes Disease - Science Daily, 1/29/08
• ACE Inhibitors or ARBs in Hypertension? In Chronic Kidney Disease? - Medscape, 1/17/07 - "ARBs and ACE inhibitors were similarly effective at lowering proteinuria, ARBs were more effective than calcium-channel blockers, and a combination of ARBs and ACE inhibitors was more effective than either agent alone"
• The effect of losartan on hemoglobin concentration and renal outcome in diabetic nephropathy of type 2 diabetes - Kidney Int. 2007 Dec 19 - "Compared with placebo, losartan treatment was associated with a significant decrease of hemoglobin, with the largest between-group difference at 1 year. After adjustment, there were significant relative risk reductions for losartan compared with placebo for ESRD and for ESRD or death regardless of the baseline hemoglobin even in those patients with a baseline hemoglobin below 120 g l(-1). Hence, the renoprotective properties of losartan were maintained despite a significant lowering of the hemoglobin concentration"
• Blood Pressure Drugs: Is Timing Key? - WebMD, 12/13/07 - "The study was small, involving just 32 patients with chronic kidney disease taking more than one blood pressure medication ... When the patients switched just one of their blood pressure drugs from morning to bedtime, 28 experienced normalization of nighttime blood pressure patterns within eight weeks ... Most patients also showed decreases in protein levels in their urine indicative of better kidney function"
• Pioglitazone Lowers Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetic Patients with Kidney Disease - Doctor's Guide, 12/12/07
• Existing Drugs Show Promise For Treating End-stage Renal Disease In Lupus - Science Daily, 11/27/07
• New Way To Detect Lupus-associated Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 11/25/07
• Thiazolidinediones: A novel class of drugs for the prevention of diabetic nephropathy? - Kidney Int. 2007 Dec;72(11):1301-1303 - "Miyazaki et al. report that rosiglitazone, a thiazolidinedione insulin sensitizer and a potent peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma agonist, not only effectively improves glycemic control but also halts progression of albuminuria in type 2 diabetic patients with early-stage diabetic nephropathy. These findings could offer a new prevention of diabetic nephropathy in insulin-resistant diabetic patients"
• Drug May Limit Radiation Kidney Damage In BMT Patients - Science Daily, 11/14/07
• Atorvastatin Helps Protect Kidneys in SPARCL Patients - Doctor's Guide, 11/12/07 - "Treatment of stroke patients with atorvastatin can preserve kidney function in patients with or without chronic kidney disease, metabolic syndrome or type 2 diabetes"
• Chronic Kidney Disease Rises While Most People With The Condition Remain Unaware - Science Daily, 11/9/07
• Adding Carvediol Therapy Prevents Progression of Chronic Kidney Disease - Doctor's Guide, 11/6/07
• 13% of Americans Have Kidney Disease - WebMD, 11/6/07 - "Thirteen percent of Americans now have chronic kidney disease, up 3% over the last decade, mostly due to higher rates of diabetes and high blood pressure ... A recent CDC report on the same NHANES data suggested that 17% of Americans have chronic kidney disease. Coresh and colleagues came up with a lower number because the CDC analysis included people with earlier signs of kidney disease, while the Coresh team counted only those with persistent kidney disease"
• Rosiglitazone May Increase Mortality Among Diabetic Patients Undergoing Haemodialysis - Doctor's Guide, 11/5/07
• Renoprotection provided by losartan in combination with pioglitazone is superior to renoprotection provided by losartan alone in patients with type 2 diabetic nephropathy - Kidney Blood Press Res. 2007;30(4):203-11 - "Renoprotection conferred by losartan combined with pioglitazone is superior to that conferred by losartan alone in subjects with type 2 diabetic nephropathy. The combination is generally well tolerated"
• Genzyme Says FDA OKs Renvela for Dialysis Patients - Medscape, 10/22/07
• Double Cardiovascular Benefit For People With Chronic Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 10/5/07
• Higher Death Rates in Kidney Patients With Newly Recognized Disease - Doctor's Guide, 10/1/07
• Kidney Dialysis Best After Dark? - WebMD, 9/19/07
• Lowering Homocysteine Levels Does Not Improve Outcomes For Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 9/11/07
• Rosiglitazone decreases albuminuria in type 2 diabetic patients - Kidney Int. 2007 Sep 5 - "The percentage decrease in albuminuria correlated with the decrease in fasting plasma glucose ... Our study indicates that thiazolidinediones may be useful to prevent nephropathy in type 2 diabetic patients"
• ACE Inhibitors, ARBs Improve Survival in Heart Failure Patients With Kidney Disease - Medscape, 7/6/07
• Telmisartan Staves Off Overt Diabetic Nephropathy - Medscape, 6/27/07 - "During a mean follow-up of 1.3 years, transition rates to overt nephropathy were significantly lower with telmisartan 40 mg (22.6%) and telmisartan 80 mg (16.7%) than with placebo (49.9%)"
• Telmisartan May Help Preserve Renal Function in Patients With Hypertension, Diabetes - Medscape, 6/1/07 - "In patients with hypertension and type 2 diabetes, telmisartan and ramipril both may help preserve cardiovascular and renal function by increasing nitric oxide (NO) activity of the renal endothelium"
• Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers in patients with congestive heart failure and chronic kidney disease - Am Heart J. 2007 Jun;153(6):1064-73 - "The inhospital use of either an ACE-I or ARB was associated with significantly reduced 30-day mortality (OR 0.45, 95% CI 0.28-0.59) after adjusting for multiple risk factors. Similarly, the discharge prescription of either an ACE-I or ARB was associated with a significant reduction in adjusted 1-year mortality ... Angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and ARB are underused in patients with heart failure with chronic kidney disease"
• ACE Inhibitors May Slow Progression of IgA Renal Disease - Medscape, 5/24/07
• Novel ARB Provides Greater Reductions in Proteinuria in Diabetics With Overt Nephropathy - Medscape, 5/22/07 - "One year of treatment with the novel angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) telmisartan provided greater reductions in proteinuria when compared with losartan, a drug approved for the treatment of diabetic nephropathy to prevent renal-disease progression"
• Early Treatment With ACE Inhibitors Urged To Reduce Long-Term Dialysis Risk - Science Daily, 5/21/07 - "For young patients with the kidney disease IgA nephropathy (IgAN), early treatment with angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors can reduce the long-term risk of irreversible kidney damage"
• ACE Inhibitors Help Preserve Kidney Function in IgA Nephropathy - Doctor's Guide, 5/16/07
• Treating hypertension in the patient with overt diabetic nephropathy - Semin Nephrol. 2007 Mar;27(2):182-94 - "The renoprotective and proteinuria-decreasing effects of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin-receptor blockers recommend these agents as the standard of care in type 2 diabetic nephropathy"
• Statins Linked to Lower Risk of Infection in Kidney Dialysis Patients - Doctor's Guide, 4/10/07
• Do statins have a beneficial effect on the kidney? - Medscape, 1/4/07 - "Statins appear to have a small beneficial effect on the rate of kidney function decline (particularly in patients with cardiovascular disease), and proteinuria"
• High-normal Uric Acid Linked With Mild Cognitive Impairment In The Elderly - Science Daily, 1/3/07 - "older people with serum (blood) uric-acid levels in the high end of the normal range are more likely to process information slowly and experience failures of verbal and working memory ... Higher levels of uric acid are linked with known risk factors for dementia, including high blood pressure, atherosclerosis, Type 2 diabetes and the "metabolic syndrome" of abdominal obesity and insulin resistance"
• NICE Recommends Mimpara(R) (Cinacalcet) for Treatment of a Serious Complication of Kidney Disease - Doctor's Guide, 11/6/06
• ACE Inhibitors Reduce Kidney Disease Risk in Diabetics with High Blood Pressure - Doctor's Guide, 11/2/06 - "Taking an ACE inhibitor, alone or as part of the combination treatment, provided further protection against diabetic kidney disease"
• Obesity May Up Risk of Kidney Failure - WebMD, 5/22/06
• Fosrenol Significantly Reduces Tablet Burden for End-Stage Renal Disease Patients With Hyperphosphatemia and Improves Patient and Physician Satisfaction, a New Study Reports - Doctor's Guide, 4/21/06
• Lipitor Demonstrates Improvement in Kidney Function in Patients With Coronary Heart Disease - Doctor's Guide, 3/13/06 - "Patients with coronary heart disease (CHD) and elevated cholesterol who took Pfizer Inc's cholesterol- lowering medicine Lipitor (atorvastatin calcium) experienced improved kidney function, and those improvements were significantly greater among patients taking the highest dose (80 mg)"
• Concern Over Rapid Rise Of Chronic Kidney Disease - Science Daily, 3/13/06 - "This figure has doubled over the past decade and is expected to continue to rise by 5-8% annually ... The rise in end stage renal disease worldwide probably reflects the global epidemic of type 2 diabetes and the ageing of the populations in developed countries"