A healthy heart protects against CKD, says study

High cardiovascular health (CVH), defined by Life’s Essential 8 (LE8) score, appears to contribute to a reduced risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD), reports a study.

The American Heart Association recently updated LE8 score, which consists of eight important health metrics, namely diet, physical activity, smoking, body mass index (BMI), blood lipids, blood glucose, blood pressure, and sleep duration.

The authors carried out this prospective study to explore the relationship between CVH levels, as measured by the LE8 score, and CKD risk in 147,988 participants free of CKD and cardiovascular disease from the UK Biobank. CVH levels were categorized as low (0‒49), moderate (50‒79), and high (80‒100).

The association between LE8 and CKD was assessed using an adjusted Cox proportional hazard model. In addition, the authors calculated the population attributable risk (PAR).

A total of 1,936 CKD cases were recorded during a median follow-up of 10 years. A significant association was observed between a higher LE8 score and a lower CKD risk (p<0.001). A linear dose‒response relationship was also noted. Moreover, similar patterns arose in the associations between the LE8 behaviour and biological subscale scores with CKD.

After adjusting for covariates, participants with a moderate CVH were found to have a 39-percent lower risk of developing CKD (hazard ratio [HR], 0.61, 95 percent confidence interval [CI], 0.52‒0.72), while those with a high CVD benefitted from a 57-percent lower risk of CKD incidence (HR, 0.43, 95 percent CI, 0.35‒0.530), compared with those with a low CVH level.

Among the distinct metrics of LE8 score, BMI showed the highest PAR (24.6 percent, 95 percent CI, 18.8‒30.2). Notably, 3.2 percent (95 percent CI, 1.4‒5.) of the total CKD risk was attributed to lack of sleep or excessive sleep duration.

“These results suggest that promoting optimal cardiovascular health may lower the burden of CKD,” the authors said.