Detecting kidney disease at age 45 can save thousands from deadly heart disease, experts say

Experts have warned that screening at age 45 for early signs of kidney disease could save hundreds of thousands of people from deadly heart disease.

A study shows that offering all patients with diabetes and hypertension a blood test for the disease could prevent nearly 170,000 heart attacks and 109,000 strokes over the next decade.

People with these conditions are at increased risk for kidney disease, which is closely related to heart disease. But thousands of people are diagnosed too late to benefit from new treatments. Now one of the study’s authors has called on the NHS to extend kidney disease screening to all adults.

“We strongly believe that detecting kidney disease could change the trajectory of the disease for many patients, saving them from serious consequences such as heart attacks and strokes,” says Dr. Navdeep Tangri, a nephrologist at the University of Manitoba in Canada. “Detection at age 45 would work best because that is the age at which the disease begins to appear.”

The study comes days after a landmark trial concluded that the weight-loss drug known as Ozempic or Wegovy can significantly slow the progression of kidney disease and reduce the risk of heart disease.

Experts say the drug, which contains the active ingredient semaglutide, will be another addition to a growing selection of treatments that can slow kidney disease.

Until about a decade ago there were no medications that could stop its progress, meaning most patients would eventually need the slow blood cleansing treatment, dialysis or a kidney transplant.

“Before 2014, we did not have medications for this disease,” says Dr. Tangri. “So there wasn’t much point in diagnosing it in time. However, we are now firmly in the era of chronic kidney disease medications. Now it makes sense to talk about screening.’

Chronic kidney disease occurs when the kidneys (which remove waste products from the blood and make urine) no longer function as they should. It usually worsens over time and the damage cannot be reversed.

The disease affects around 7.2 million Britons but is expected to rise by 400,000 in the next decade, driven by the growing number of people with high blood pressure and obesity. As there are often no early symptoms, many will not be diagnosed until it becomes severe, when they may need dialysis. But The Mail on Sunday has revealed that 40 per cent of people with high blood pressure and diabetes are not offered a simple urine test by their GP that can identify kidney problems early.

The new study, presented yesterday at the European Renal Association Congress, modeled the impact of using a urine and blood test to detect signs of kidney disease in newly diagnosed patients with diabetes and high blood pressure.

The researchers then predicted the impact of giving effective medications to people diagnosed with kidney damage, including empagliflozin and dapagliflozin, which have been shown to reduce the risk of progression and death by almost a third.

The research, funded by British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, concluded that the measure could save the NHS £2.7 billion over the next ten years, mainly by avoiding the high cost of dialysis and kidney transplants.

Experts say the findings open the possibility of testing the general population, including otherwise healthy people.

“Screening for kidney disease is a piece of cake for me,” says Dr. Tangri. “The next step is to talk about universal screening for all people over a certain age, whether 40, 45 or 50 years old.”

Fiona Loud, policy director at Kidney Care UK, said the NHS must first speed up diagnosis of high-risk patients.

“It is clear that people at highest risk for kidney disease are not screened in a timely manner,” he said.

‘Population analysis is a fascinating idea, as age is one of the biggest risk factors.

“But we must ensure that those who are most at risk of becoming seriously ill are treated as soon as possible.”