New research, published in the Journal of American Society of Nephrology by The George Institute for International Health in Sydney, has found that lowering blood pressure protects stroke victims with Chronic Kidney Disease from further strokes or heart attacks.
Given the high risk of cardiovascular complications in people with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), these results have significant implications for millions of people across the world.
According to lead author, Dr Vlado Perkovic at The George Institute, most of the CKD population will die from cardiovascular complications. “People with Chronic Kidney Disease are at a significantly greater risk of cardiovascular events than those without the disease. We found that approximately twice as many cardiovascular events were prevented when a perindopril based blood pressure lowering regimen was used in these people, compared to people with normal kidney function.”
The findings are based on a unique data set of around 1,800 patients who were part of a large clinical trial conducted on blood pressure and stroke, called PROGRESS. Dr Perkovic added that “The findings from PROGRESS have shifted the focus away from treating individuals with high blood pressure to focusing on those people at particularly high risk of heart disease and stroke. This research suggests that kidney function is an important parameter to consider in identifying these high risk individuals.”