Kidney problems can lead to a reduction in blood flow to the brain and, ultimately, to a stroke or dementia, according to a recent population study conducted by researchers in the Netherlands.
This discovery was published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
As emphasized by the authors of the study from Erasmus University Medical Center in the Netherlands, the obtained results indicate that maintaining optimal kidney health benefits not only the urinary and endocrine systems, but also the brain.
It has been known for some time that stroke and dementia are more common in patients with chronic kidney disease than in the general population. However, it has not yet been established why, says Dr. M. Arfan Ikram, lead author of the study. – We decided to trace this relationship.
The researchers analyzed information from 2645 patients included in the large-scale Rotterdam Study. They paid attention to the kidney function of the participants and their cerebral flow.
It turned out that renal dysfunction was strongly associated with reduced blood supply to the brain or hypoperfusion (reduced blood flow through the brain tissue – PAP). Moreover, it was shown that in patients with hypoperfusion, impaired renal function was most strongly associated with stroke and dementia. These results were independent of other cardiovascular risk factors.
Our discovery is an important step in understanding how kidney disease is linked to brain disease, Dr. Ikram believes. – It is worth emphasizing that both kidney disease and cerebral hypoperfusion are potentially reversible conditions, so perhaps treating any of these factors could reduce the risk of developing brain diseases, including stroke. We are going to investigate this next.
We should also remember that the threat resulting from the kidney-brain link does not only apply to people diagnosed with renal dysfunction, but also to the huge population of people with implicit disease – adds Ikram.