Does Obesity Increase the Risk of Chronic Kidney Disease

We are aware that having extra fat in our body is not healthy. Moreover, losing weight could assist in the prevention of kidney disease in healthy people. It can also slow down the progression of the disease in individuals diagnosed with chronic kidney disease, as per nephrologists.

Being obese or overweight are the risk factors for a CKD or chronic kidney disease & are linked to the disease’s progression. Individuals having metabolic syndrome are 20% – 30% more likely to grow a kidney disease as compared to individuals without it. Metabolic syndrome happens to be a cluster of the factors which raise our risk of heart disease & diabetes.

Signs associated with Obesity:

• A large size of waist or carrying lot of fat across the mid of our body
• A high level of certain type of fat known as triglycerides in our blood
• A good or low HDL cholesterol level
• High blood sugar
• High blood pressure

It is important to mark that also if our medication has does good in controlling our blood sugar, cholesterol levels or blood pressure, we still are at a high risk if we are overweight or obese. In individuals already having a CKD, getting metabolic syndrome raises the possibilities of progression of their condition till end-stage renal disease. Individuals having end-stage renal disease must compulsorily be treated through dialysis or even a kidney transplant.

Reducing the risk of comorbidity:

You can start by achieving a healthy body weight. This can lower our risk of growing diabetes & high blood pressure which would then reduce our risk of growing kidney disease. However, if we realize that we have a kidney disease, it is very important to not start the weight loss schedule without consulting a doctor. Some popular diet schedules which have high protein could be harmful and could also put our kidney at risk.

High protein and low-carb diet could harm our kidneys in 2 ways:-

• Firstly, a diet with very high protein puts additional stress on our kidneys
• Secondly, When our body burns fat rather than glucose from the carbohydrates, we run a risk of going into ketosis which is a metabolic state which can lead to damage to the kidney.

We should consult a doctor for developing a weight loss plan which meets your nutritional requirements & protects your health.