Kidney Stones Linked to Higher Cardiovascular Disease Risk, finds research

Since the prevalence of kidney stones and cardiovascular diseases (CVD) is increasing globally and also in Iran, it is vital to assess the associations between both disorders. The current study aimed to investigate the association between kidney stones and the risk of CVD.

This study was cross-sectional in design, which used the data of the Rafsanjan cohort study (RCS), a population-based Prospective epidemiological research study in Iran (PERSIAN) that recruited 10,000 participants of both genders aged 35–70 years from four urban and suburban areas of Rafsanjan. Demographic factors, medical history, personal habits, and biochemical parameters, including Fasting blood sugar (FBS), glomerular filtration rate (GFR), creatine (Cr), Blood urea nitrogen (BUN), urine specific gravity (USG), and lipids of the participant,s were collected according to standard protocols.

Results: The results showed that the risk of CVD was higher in men (51.02%) than in women (48.98%). Also, the results showed the highest risk of CVD development for age ≥ 56 years old. The results were presented in about 31% of patients with kidney stones, 19.5% of patients with abnormal urine tests, 9.84% with Proteinuria, more than 33% with abnormal USG, and more than 94% of patients with abnormal GFR had CVD. The odds of CVD were increased in patients with kidney stones (22%), female (25%), and age ≥ 56 years old (24%).

There was a high prevalence of kidney stones and CVD risk factors, such as gender, age, and kidney stones that increased the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Nazari, A., Jamali, Z., Soltani, N. et al. Kidney stone and risk of cardiovascular diseases: a cross-sectional study in the southeast of Iran. BMC Nephrol 26, 101 (2025). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12882-025-04018-1