Washington: Scientists have shown that a lifestyle that encourages a healthy heart could also shield patients with chronic kidney diseases from kidney failure and premature death, says a study.
The findings, appearing in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN), suggest that patients with kidney diseases should be encouraged to improve their heart`s health, reports Science Daily.
Poor kidney health puts people at risk of developing heart problems. But it`s unclear whether the opposite is true. Does heart health also affect kidney health?
To investigate this, Paul Muntner, a researcher from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and colleagues used the American Heart Association`s recently published tool (Life`s Simple 7) that helps individuals assess their heart health.
Life`s Simple 7 lists seven domains including not smoking, being physically active, following a heart healthy diet, having a normal weight, and maintaining low blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels.
"Scores on the Life`s Simple 7 tool have been associated with risk for having a heart attack but it was unclear whether a worse profile would be associated with an increased risk for developing kidney failure," said Muntner.
IANS