A recent study from Kidney and Blood Pressure Research describes increased heart health in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients after receiving a kidney transplant. A common side effect of CKD is high blood pressure and left ventricular hypertrophy, which occurs when the heart’s main chamber (responsible for releases blood and oxygen to the rest of the body) becomes thicker and less effective.
While our heart and kidneys play an important and most supportive role to one another, they function very differently. For starters, the heart pumps blood through the body, and our kidneys take waste out of the blood.
Every day, our kidneys filter about 120 to 150 quarts of blood to produce about 1 to 2 quarts of urine, composed of wastes and extra fluid. The heart, on the other hand, has chambers and values that control how arteries carry blood away from the heart and veins carry blood back to the heart.
As the chambers become less effective they cause strain on the heart that can force the left ventricle to work harder. As the workload increases, the muscle tissue in the chamber wall thickens. When the heart muscle becomes enlarged, it can lose elasticity and eventually become too weak to pump with adequate force. This weakness can result in a variety of risk factors ranging from cardiac fatigue to complete heart failure.
While we are well aware of the supportive connection between cardiac function and renal function, we now know more about the benefits of how a good functioning kidney can support heart health.
In one study,(3) researchers obtained blood samples, electrocardiograms, ultrasounds of left heart chambers, and Doppler recording showing blood flow from thirty-one CKD patients before and after their transplant. The conclusion demonstrated that transplant patients had a decreased consequence of the negative cardiac effects after their kidney transplant.
It is believed that transplanted patients are better able to lower systolic blood pressure and in turn, decrease the thickness of the left ventricle structure.
References:
- https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/heartdefects/howtheheartworks.html
- https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/kidney-disease/kidneys-how-they-work
- Hewing, Bernd, et al. “Improved Left Ventricular Structure and Function After Successful Kidney Transplantation.” Kidney and Blood Pressure Research, vol. 41, no. 5, 10 Oct. 2016, pp. 701–709., doi:10.1159/000450559.
- Özkaya, Özge. “Kidney Transplants Seen to Improve Aspects of Cardiac Health in CKD Patients.” CKD News, BioNews Services, 26 Oct. 2016
For more information about how to end your wait for a kidney transplant or find potential living kidney donors, visit https://transplantfirst.org or check out this patient empowerment book by Risa Simon: In Pursuit of a Better Life .