Fruit for thought: lifestyle interventions to reduce the risk of future chronic kidney disease

Degree of joint risk factor control and incident chronic kidney disease among individuals with obesity

AIM

To investigate the extent to which joint risk factor control might attenuate the excess risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in participants with obesity.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We included a total of 97 538 participants who were obese at baseline and matched 97 538 normal weight control participants from the UK Biobank in the analysis. The degree of joint risk factor control was assessed based on six major CKD risk factors, including blood pressure, glycated haemoglobin, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, albuminuria, smoking and physical activity. The Cox proportional hazards models were used to estimate associations between the degree of risk factor control and risk of CKD, following participants from their baseline assessment until the occurrence of CKD, death, or the end of the follow-up period.

RESULTS

Among participants with obesity, joint risk factor control showed an association with a stepwise reduction of incident CKD risk. Each additional risk factor control corresponded to an 11% (hazard ratio: 0.89; 95% confidence interval: 0.86-0.91) reduced risk of CKD among participants with obesity, with the optimal controlling of all six risk factors associated with a 49% (hazard ratio: 0.51; 95% confidence interval: 0.43-0.61) decrease in risk of CKD. Furthermore, in individuals with obesity who jointly controlled all six risk factors, the excess risk of CKD associated with obesity was effectively neutralized compared with normal weight control subjects. Notably, the protective correlations between the degree of joint risk factor control and the incidence of CKD were more pronounced in men compared with women, in individuals with a lower healthy food score versus a higher score, and among diabetes medication users as opposed to non-users (pinteraction = 0.017, 0.033 and 0.014, respectively).

CONCLUSION

The joint risk factor control is associated with an inverse association of CKD risk in an accumulative manner among individuals with obesity. Achieving ideal control over risk factors may effectively counterbalance the excessive risk of CKD typically associated with obesity.

Healthy Lifestyle and Incident Hypertension and Diabetes in Participants with and without Chronic Kidney Disease: The Japan Specific Health Checkups (J-SHC) Study

Objective Whether or not combined lifestyle factors are associated with similar decreases in risks of incident hypertension and diabetes among individuals with and without chronic kidney disease (CKD) remains unclear. Methods This population-based prospective cohort study included participants 40-74 years old who were free from heart disease, stroke, renal failure, hypertension, diabetes, and hypercholesterolemia at baseline (n =60,234). Healthy lifestyle scores (HLSs) were calculated by adding the total number of 5 healthy lifestyle factors (non-smoking, body mass index <25 kg/m², regular exercise, healthy eating habits, and moderate or less alcohol consumption). Cox proportional hazards models were used to examine associations between the HLS and incident hypertension or type 2 diabetes and whether or not CKD modified these associations. Results During a median of 4 years, there were 2,773 incident hypertension cases (30.1 cases per 1,000 person-years) and 263 incident diabetes cases (2.4 cases per 1,000 person-years). The risk of developing hypertension and diabetes decreased linearly as participants adhered to more HLS components. Compared with adhering to 0, 1, or 2 components, adherence to all 5 HLS components was associated with a nearly one-half reduction in the risk of hypertension [hazard ratio (HR) =0.52; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.45-0.60] and diabetes (HR=0.51; 95% CI, 0.32-0.81) in fully adjusted models. CKD did not have a modifying effect on associations between the HLS and incident hypertension (P_interaction=0.6) or diabetes (P_interaction=0.3). Conclusion Adherence to HLS components was associated with reduced risks of incident hypertension and diabetes, regardless of CKD status.