Smoking associated with kidney damage in the healthy general population

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Smoking associated with kidney damage in the healthy general population

NEW YORK, Nov 1, 2002 Smoking is associated with kidney damage in

healthy individuals in the general population, according to a

cross-sectional population-based study in the American Journal of Kidney

Diseases .

Australian researchers studied the association between

smoking status and indicators of kidney damage in 11,247 adults from the

general population who were free of hypertension and abnormal glucose

metabolism. Smoking status was ascertained by questionnaires, and urine

samples were assayed to check for renal impairment (assessed from

estimated glomerular filtration rate) and proteinuria.

In multivariate analysis, men who smoked were a significant

3.6 times more likely to have renal impairment than men who did not

smoke. In contrast, smoking was not significantly associated with renal

impairment in women.

Individuals who had high-normal systolic blood pressure were

significantly more likely to have proteinuria if they smoked, and the

risk increased with increasing systolic blood pressure. Those with

pressures of 131.5 and 139.5 mm Hg had 3.6-fold and 5.8-fold increases

in risk, respectively.

Similarly, individuals who had high-normal 2-hour blood glucose

levels were significantly more likely to have proteinuria if they

smoked, and the risk increased with increasing glucose levels. Those

with levels of 7.0 and 7.7 mmol/L had 1.8-fold and 10.8-fold increases

in risk, respectively.

Lifetime exposure to smoking was inversely correlated with

estimated glomerular filtration rate and directly correlated with the

extent of proteinuria. In contrast, current level of smoking was not

correlated with these measures.

The study's findings indicate that smoking is associated

with kidney damage in a dose-dependent manner in healthy individuals.

" Our data indicate that the general public without typical risk factors

for kidney disease of hypertension and diabetes mellitus should be

warned that smoking is associated with kidney damage, in addition to its

other known health consequences, " the authors conclude.

Reference: Briganti EM, Branley P, Chadban SJ, et al.: Smoking

is associated with renal impairment and proteinuria in the normal

population: the AusDiab Study. Am J Kid Dis . Oct 2002;40(4):704-12