A study of kidney dialysis patients found that nearly 70 percent had metabolic syndrome, a set of symptoms that is a predictor of cardiovascular disease, at the time they initiated maintenance dialysis. This information further illuminates the relationship between heart and kidney disease, as dialysis patients are already known to have an elevated risk of cardiovascular problems.

‘Metabolic syndrome is a term we apply to anyone having three of the following five criteria: abdominal obesity, elevated triglyceride levels, low HDL cholesterol (also known as ‘good cholesterol’) levels, high blood pressure, or high blood glucose after fasting,’ says study author Dr. Daniel Young.

The study also showed that white, female and diabetic dialysis patients showed the highest incidence of metabolic syndrome.

Dr. Young sees potential to use metabolic syndrome as a medical diagnostic tool. “Checking new dialysis patients for these criteria may assist us in identifying the patients most vulnerable to cardiovascular disease in this population.” In addition, he suggests that additional research involving metabolic syndrome and the earlier stages of kidney disease may yield important insights into the diagnosis of kidney disease itself.