Traditional markers for the progression of kidney disease such as age, race, proteinuria, baseline GFR, gender and diabetes may be unreliable according to new research from St. John Hospital and Medical Center. The study suggests even mildly elevated blood pressure combined with renal impairment should be examined further.
 
Data showed the rate of progression of kidney disease was slower in patients with low systolic blood pressure, advanced age and longer duration of treatment in clinic. Surprisingly, proteinuria seemed to protect kidney function and diabetes proved not to be a factor in this study.
 
Although the study found these things were not important for the progression of kidney disease, they are still important to control because proteinuria and diabetes are risk factors for cardiac events. The findings hope to provide important new information to guide physicians about the progression of disease in their patients.

This article originally appeared in the December 2008 issue of Kidney Beginnings: The Electronic Newsletter.