Silent Strokes Signal Kidney Disease

(Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Researchers in Japan have now connected silent cerebral infarction (SCI) to increased risk of kidney disease in type 2 diabetics.

Researchers believe an SCI – also known as a “silent stroke” -- found in the brain could indicate further damage that may be present in the kidneys.

The study included more than 600 patients with type 2 diabetes who underwent magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scans of the brain to assess brain damage. Researchers found 29 percent of the patients had an SCI.

At long-term follow-up, the diabetic patients with an SCI had higher risks of progressive kidney disease and were 2.5 times more likely to die from the disease.

"Silent cerebral infarction may be a new marker to identify patients who are risk for declining kidney function," Takashi Uzu, M.D., of the Shiga University School of Medicine in Otsu, Japan, was quoted as saying.

Dr. Uzu believes patients with large areas of brain damage and large vessel disease may also affect progressive kidney disease as well.

SOURCE: Journal of the American Society Nephrology, January 2010

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