Annual checkups are an essential proactive step in managing health. These typically include a urine test, which helps monitor kidney function and detect issues like kidney stones, kidney disorders, or urinary tract infections.
Key urine indicators, such as albumin and glomerular filtration rate (GFR), are used to assess kidney health. In conditions like diabetic nephropathy, albuminuria is an early sign, followed by excessive filtration and a drop in GFR.
However, age-related decline in GFR can mask these changes in older people. To improve GFR assessment in older adults, researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University have developed a new calculation method.
Kidney age, not kidney disease, study
The study involved 180 kidney donor candidates, where GFR was assessed using inulin clearance, and a two-hour, 75-gram oral glucose tolerance test was also performed. The participants were divided into four groups based on the presence or absence of glucose tolerance disorder and BMI.
One of the important findings was that the conventional correction of GFR for body surface area in obese patients was incorrect because it failed to detect overfiltration. The authors recommend calculating GFR without this correction, accounting for the natural decline in filtration rate with age.
Dr. Akihiro Tsuda, a Graduate School of Medicine lecturer, said, “Since hyperfiltration is a precursor to diabetic nephropathy, we hope that using this new formula will more accurately diagnose the condition, leading to early detection and treatment.”
Journal Reference:
- Tsuda, A., Mori, K., Uedono, H. et al. The definition of hyperfiltration takes into account age-related decline in renal function in kidney donor candidates with obesity and glucose tolerance disorder. Hypertension Research (2024). DOI: 10.1038/s41440-024-02020-y