FRIDAY, Nov. 6 (HealthDay News) -- Decline in kidney function is associated with increased risk of heart failure, according to two studies published online Nov. 5 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, while a third study published online Nov. 5 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology found that there is a link between higher phosphorous levels and calcification of the coronary arteries.

Kunihiro Matsushita, M.D., of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in Baltimore, and colleagues conducted a study of 13,029 people, whose kidney function was monitored over nine years, and found that the steeper the decline in kidney function, the higher the risk of coronary heart disease. In a second study, Michael G. Shlipak, M.D., of the University of California in San Francisco, and colleagues conducted a study of 4,378 elderly patients and found that rapid decline in kidney function was associated with higher risk of cardiovascular disease, even in patients without kidney disease.

Katherine R. Tuttle, M.D., and Robert A. Short, Ph.D., both of Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Wash., conducted a long-term study of 883 adults and found that reduced kidney function and higher levels of serum phosphorous were independent predictors of coronary artery calcification.

"Our results may help explain why even early-stage chronic kidney disease is associated with increased cardiovascular risk that is not explained by traditional risk factors," Tuttle said in a statement.

Abstract - Matsushita
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Abstract - Shlipak
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Abstract - Tuttle & Short
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