Lead Levels In Drinking Water That Are Permissible By The EPA May Be Harmful To Patients With Kidney Disease
“Lead levels in drinking water that are permissible by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) may be harmful to patients with kidney disease,” researchers concluded in a study revealing that “in about 600,000 people who started dialysis in the U.S. from 2005 to 2017, each 0.01 mg/L increase of lead in drinking water was associated with significantly lower hemoglobin concentrations…and an increased use of erythropoietin-stimulating agents, commonly used to treat anemia.” What’s more, “racial inequities were observed, with significantly higher levels of lead in the drinking water of black versus white patients.”
This confirms the statement in our blog that “A safe exposure for one person might be a toxic exposure to another”
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Presence Of Metabolic Acidosis May Increase Risk For Major Adverse CV Events In Patients With Non-Dialysis CKD
The presence of metabolic acidosis increased the risk for major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE) in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Investigators concluded after conducting a retrospective, community-based cohort study of 51,558 adults with CKD stages 3 through 5, categorizing participants into groups based on serum bicarbonate levels. Metabolic acidosis was defined as serum bicarbonate levels of 12 mEq per L to 22 mEq per L). The study revealed that 48% of the study population experienced a MACE-plus event within two years. Metabolic acidosis at baseline was associated with a higher rate of MACE-plus events (58% vs. 44%).
Dietary acid load plays an important role in the development of metabolic acidosis in CKD, as mentioned in our blog.
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Kidneys Can Sense Gut Bacterial Metabolites – The Gut-Kidney Axis
Products from bacterial metabolism in the gut can affect the kidneys by several mechanisms. Some species of gut bacteria produce uremic toxins, whereas protective gut microbiota produce short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs). In this perspective study, investigators explore how microbiota-derived metabolites affect the gut-kidney axis, how kidney cells can sense SCFAs, and how these processes affect kidney health. SCFA-related strategies may be useful for treating different kidney diseases.
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