New research has led to blood pressure management recommendations for chronic kidney disease patients. These recommendations are aimed at those with systolic blood pressure levels over 12 mmHg. Researchers believe these recommendations will affect 25 million people or around 70% of all chronic kidney disease patients.

Kidneys filter the blood of wastes and toxins, allowing them to be expelled through urine. If the kidneys operate at reduced function or fail completely, the patient has Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). There is no cure for CKD, except for transplant. It affects 10% to 13% of the adult population. Those with the condition are at a higher risk of cardiovascular complications and premature death.

Researchers say these recommendations are coming in the face of worsening blood-pressure control in the United States. They said Black Americans and Asian Americans with CKD are more likely to have blood pressure readings above the 2020 KDIGO target level than white Americans.

One study looked at 1,699 U.S. adults with chronic kidney disease in the 2015-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Their goal was to determine proportion of chronic kidney disease patients who would potentially benefit from the new KDIGO guidelines. They found 69.5% of U.S. chronic kidney disease patients, or about 24.5 million individuals, are eligible for blood-pressure lowering according to the 2020 KDIGO guideline.

This was compared with 49.8% in 2012, and 55.6%, according to guidelines issued in 2017. Analysis of the data also suggested between 2015-18, 14.4 million U.S. adults with chronic kidney disease were not taking blood pressure lowering medicines. For more on the latest kidney health studies, be sure to watch the Healthy Kidney Inc. YouTube channel.