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The results of a study funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF) were published today in the European Heart Journal. .

A woman holds a kidney model close to the kidneys behind her back

The first analysis of 20 years of national kidney failure patient data shows that these patients: Eight times more likely to have a heart attack and up to four times more likely to have a stroke Women are at higher risk than men than people without the disease.

But the study also offers hope that a cheap and simple treatment strategy could help improve survival for kidney failure patients who have had a heart attack or stroke. In this study, more than 40% of patients who were not prescribed a dual antiplatelet drug died from heart-related problems within a year, compared to nearly 14% of patients who received antiplatelet drugs. It was revealed that there was a decline in

Urgent improvement required

Antiplatelet drugs are commonly prescribed to the general public to prevent blood clotting after a heart attack or stroke.

Professor Neeraj Dhan (beans)Professor of Nephrology at the University of Edinburgh, who was involved in the study, said: ‘Patients with kidney failure are usually excluded from trials of treatments after heart attack and stroke, which are standard for other groups, such as antiplatelet drugs. A lack of data proving the drug is safe and effective means many doctors are reluctant to prescribe it to this very high-risk group. Masu.

“However, our results show that antiplatelet drugs have been prescribed more frequently to patients with renal failure in recent years, and this could significantly improve survival.

“Clinical trials of these and similar drugs in patients with kidney failure are urgently needed. Determining whether they are truly safe and effective will help improve the treatment of these people. It has the potential to bring much-needed improvements.”

It is estimated that one in 10 people in the UK have chronic kidney disease, a long-term, progressive condition that prevents the kidneys from working as well as they should. More than 70,000 people in the UK are currently being treated for kidney failure, the final stage of kidney failure. People with kidney disease have a higher risk of heart attack and stroke than the general population. The risk increases as kidney function declines and is highest in patients with kidney failure.

The study was the first to assess whether heart attack and stroke rates, treatments, and survival rates have improved over 20 years in patients with kidney failure. Researchers used anonymized medical data from more than 16,000 Scottish kidney failure patients between 1996 and 2016.

“Progress under threat”

The incidence of heart attacks and strokes among patients with kidney failure has been cut in half over the past 20 years, and the number of deaths from them has also decreased. However, this decline lagged behind the large declines seen in other populations. As a result, the gap is larger than it was 20 years ago, and even larger for women than for men. Researchers say more research is needed to understand the causes of this difference and how to reduce the incidence of heart attacks and strokes in this group.

Professor Brian Williams, Chief Scientific and Medical Officer at the British Heart Foundation, said: “This comprehensive study shows that despite some improvements in recent decades, people with kidney failure are still at an unacceptably high risk of having a heart attack or stroke. may lead to death.

“Over the course of this study, which looked at 20 years of patient data, we have made significant progress in preventing and treating heart attacks and strokes in the wider population. This progress is under threat because premature mortality from cardiovascular disease is rising.

“With this background in mind, we need to focus more on ensuring that patients with kidney failure are not left behind in the treatment of heart and circulatory diseases.”

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