Analysis links impaired kidney function with cognitive disorders

New research has demonstrated a link between kidney disease and the development of cognitive problems. The findings were presented at ASN Kidney Week 2022 November 3–November 6.

The study relied on data from the population-based Framingham Heart Study. Among 2,738 participants without dementia, 187 (7%) had chronic kidney disease and 251 (9%) had albuminuria, a urinary marker of kidney disease. Albuminuria was associated with signs of silent stroke, and patients with albuminuria had a 65% higher risk of developing mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Chronic kidney disease was not associated with markers of silent cerebrovascular disease but was associated with a 51% higher risk of developing dementia.

"Our results highlight the importance of albuminuria as a cerebrovascular and cognitive risk factor and indicate that there may be additional shared disease mechanisms in the kidney and the brain beyond hypertension," said corresponding author Dearbhla Kelly, MBBChBAO, MSc, DPhil, of St. James's Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.

Study: "Associations of Impaired Kidney Function with Cerebral Small Vessel Disease and Cognitive Disorders: Findings from the Framingham Heart Study"