Hormone and bone tests may be indicative of dialysis patients' heart health
Inexpensive tests could help prevent cardiovascular problems and early death
2015-04-03
(Press-News.org) Highlights
High parathyroid hormone levels and subsequent bone loss are major risk factors for worsening of coronary artery calcification in patients on dialysis.
Washington, DC (April 2, 2015) -- Bone loss may be a sign of poor heart health in patients on dialysis, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). Monitoring bone loss in dialysis patients may therefore provide an early alert to physicians concerning cardiovascular problems.
Most patients with chronic kidney disease who are on dialysis have a buildup of calcium in the arteries around the heart. When such coronary artery calcification worsens, it can lead to heart disease, which is the leading cause of death in dialysis patients.
To identify patients at high risk for progression of coronary artery calcification, Hartmut Malluche, MD, FACP (University of Kentucky) and his colleagues conducted tests to analyze abnormalities in blood, bone, and heart vessels in 213 patients on dialysis over a 1-year period. "We discovered that high parathyroid hormone and the consequential bone loss are major risk factors for progression of vascular calcifications," said Dr. Malluche. "These two factors were heretofore not appreciated and were independent from traditional known risk factors." (High parathyroid hormone levels signal the bone to release calcium into the blood, which can lead to the development of thin bones.)
Dr. Malluche noted that there may be important links between the calcification levels in bones and those in blood vessels. "Studies need to be done to find out whether prevention of bone loss will reduce progression of vascular calcifications," he said.
INFORMATION:
Study co-authors include Gustav Blomquist, MD, Marie-Claude Monier-Faugere, MD, Thomas Cantor, and Daniel Davenport, PhD.
Disclosures: The authors reported no financial disclosures.
The article, entitled "High Parathyroid Hormone Level and Osteoporosis Predict Progression of Coronary Artery Calcification in Patients on Dialysis," will appear online at http://jasn.asnjournals.org/ on April 2, 2015.
The content of this article does not reflect the views or opinions of The American Society of Nephrology (ASN). Responsibility for the information and views expressed therein lies entirely with the author(s). ASN does not offer medical advice. All content in ASN publications is for informational purposes only, and is not intended to cover all possible uses, directions, precautions, drug interactions, or adverse effects. This content should not be used during a medical emergency or for the diagnosis or treatment of any medical condition. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health care provider if you have any questions about a medical condition, or before taking any drug, changing your diet or commencing or discontinuing any course of treatment. Do not ignore or delay obtaining professional medical advice because of information accessed through ASN. Call 911 or your doctor for all medical emergencies.
Founded in 1966, and with more than 15,000 members, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) leads the fight against kidney disease by educating health professionals, sharing new knowledge, advancing research, and advocating the highest quality care for patients.
ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:
2015-04-03
Using archival data from the Japan-led Suzaku X-ray satellite, astronomers have determined the pre-explosion mass of a white dwarf star that blew up thousands of years ago. The measurement strongly suggests the explosion involved only a single white dwarf, ruling out a well-established alternative scenario involving a pair of merging white dwarfs.
"Mounting evidence indicates both of these mechanisms produce what we call type Ia supernovae," said lead researcher Hiroya Yamaguchi, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. "To understand ...
2015-04-02
Boston, MA - Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health researchers are calling upon police in all states to improve their reporting of crashes involving vehicles and bicycles, according to a new study being published Thursday, April 2, 2015. Currently, details on crashes are handwritten by police on paper and there are few bicycle-relevant codes. The researchers are calling for police to use electronic tablets that would include more options to gather bicycle-specific data, such as drawings of the scene and additional codes that could indicate, for example, if the bicyclist ...
2015-04-02
LOS ANGELES -- Using herpesvirus, molecular immunologists from the University of Southern California (USC) Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center have discovered a cellular process that activates a critical immune defense against pathogens, which could have implications for developing drugs to bolster one's immunity to infection. Some herpesvirus infections lead to cancer.
Led by Pinghui Feng, Ph.D., associate professor of molecular microbiology and immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, the team found that herpesvirus proteins activate retinoic acid-induced gene ...
2015-04-02
DURHAM, N.C. -- The saying "what doesn't kill you makes you stronger" may not hold up to scientific scrutiny. Baboons born in times of famine are more vulnerable to food shortages later in life, finds a new study.
The findings are important because they help explain why people who are malnourished in early childhood often experience poor health as adults.
After the plains of southern Kenya experienced a severe drought in 2009 that took a terrible toll on wildlife, researchers at Duke and Princeton Universities looked at how 50 wild baboons coped with the drought, and ...
2015-04-02
CORVALLIS, Ore. - Engineers have combined innovative optical technology with nanocomposite thin-films to create a new type of sensor that is inexpensive, fast, highly sensitive and able to detect and analyze a wide range of gases.
The technology might find applications in everything from environmental monitoring to airport security or testing blood alcohol levels. The sensor is particularly suited to detecting carbon dioxide, and may be useful in industrial applications or systems designed to store carbon dioxide underground, as one approach to greenhouse gas reduction.
Oregon ...
2015-04-02
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an antibiotic-resistant superbug, can cause life-threatening skin, bloodstream and surgical site infections or pneumonia. Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine now report that cigarette smoke may make matters worse. The study, published March 30 by Infection and Immunity, shows that MRSA bacteria exposed to cigarette smoke become even more resistant to killing by the immune system.
"We already know that smoking cigarettes harms human respiratory and immune cells, and now we've shown ...
2015-04-02
(SACRAMENTO, Calif.) -- The micro RNA miR-22 has long been known for its ability to suppress cancer. However, questions remain about how it achieves this feat. For example, which molecules are regulating miR-22, and which are miR22 targets?
Researchers at UC Davis have unraveled some of these relationships, identifying several interactions that directly impact liver and colon cancer. The work provides new insights into how miR-22 operates and could potentially lead to new cancer therapies. The study was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
"There are quite ...
2015-04-02
WASHINGTON, April 2, 2015 -- It's supposed to help keep our bodies healthy in stressful situations. But the constant stress of our everyday lives means we're getting overexposed to cortisol. Raychelle Burks, Ph.D., explains why too much cortisol is bad for you in the latest episode of the Reactions series Get To Know A Molecule. Check it out here: https://youtu.be/fPnDaRYXHs4.
INFORMATION:
Subscribe to the series at http://bit.ly/ACSReactions, and follow us on Twitter @ACSreactions to be the first to see our latest videos.
The American Chemical Society is a nonprofit ...
2015-04-02
For more than 50 years, scientists thought that the horned anole lizard -- sometimes called the "Pinocchio Lizard" for its long, protruding nose -- was extinct. But it turns out this is a tall tale.
Scientists re-discovered the lizard in 2005, living elusively at the tops of tall trees in the cloud forests of Ecuador -- the only place in the world that it is known to exist.
A team led by a Virginia Tech scientist recently uncovered new information about the role that the lizard's long nose plays. Only the males have long noses, and they appear to be used in social ...
2015-04-02
HANOVER, N.H. - The placenta can be used to reliably measure arsenic exposure in pregnant women and how much of the toxic metal is transferred to their fetuses, a Dartmouth College study shows.
The study, the largest ever analysis of household drinking water arsenic and the mother-to-fetus connection, appears in the Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology. A PDF is available on request.
Recent studies have used the placenta to identify early effects of exposure to lead, mercury, cadmium and other metals. Previous studies also have shown that arsenic ...
LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:
[Press-News.org] Hormone and bone tests may be indicative of dialysis patients' heart health
Inexpensive tests could help prevent cardiovascular problems and early death
