A new study highlights the severe impact of having both diabetes and kidney disease on heart health, revealing that individuals with both conditions face a much earlier onset of cardiovascular issues compared to those without these ailments.
Presenting findings at the American Heart Association meeting in Chicago, researchers reported that men with both type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease are likely to develop heart problems an average of 28 years earlier than individuals without either condition. Similarly, women with these dual health issues face heart health problems 26 years earlier.
The research, led by Vaishnavi Krishnan, a medical student at Boston University and a researcher at Northwestern University, underscores the compounded risk of heart disease when both diabetes and kidney disease are present. “Our findings help interpret how the combination of risk factors influences the age at which heart disease risk becomes significant,” Krishnan stated. “For those with borderline issues like elevated blood pressure or blood glucose levels, the risk might not be apparent until later, even though it may already be elevated.”
The study analyzed federal health survey data from 2011 to 2020 to develop heart disease risk profiles for individuals with type 2 diabetes, chronic kidney disease, or both. Researchers found that kidney disease alone leads to an increased heart disease risk starting eight years earlier than in individuals with healthy kidneys, while type 2 diabetes accelerates heart disease risk by about a decade.
However, when diabetes and kidney disease are combined, the risk skyrockets. For adults with both conditions, heart health complications begin much earlier, with women experiencing elevated heart disease risk starting at age 42, and men at age 35—26 and 28 years earlier than their counterparts without these conditions.
Despite these concerning findings, researchers caution that the study’s results are based on a simulated population and should be regarded as preliminary until peer-reviewed publications confirm the conclusions. Dr. Sadiya Khan, a cardiovascular epidemiologist at Northwestern University, emphasized that while these results offer valuable insights into the risk model, further research is needed to validate the findings.
This study draws attention to the urgent need for proactive monitoring of individuals with diabetes and kidney disease, especially in understanding how early interventions can mitigate the heightened cardiovascular risk they face.
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