Johns Hopkins Links Kidney, Heart Failure

Heart failure is the leading cause of death among patients on dialysis for failing kidneys, say researchers at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

People with end-stage renal disease are 10 times to 100 times more likely to die of heart failure than the general public, said a HealthDay News report published Saturday in The Washington Post.

Of the 1,041 patients on dialysis studied for nearly 10 years, 146 died of sudden cardiac death, said Dr. Rulan S. Parekh, an associate professor in the department of nephrology at Johns Hopkins.

The study is said to be the first to examine why so many patients on dialysis die of sudden cardiac death, Parekh said, noting patients with low albumin levels were 1.35 times more likely to die of heart failure than those with high albumin levels.

An estimated 500,000 people in the United States currently are on dialysis, Parekh said.