Original from: TechnologyNetworks

In a new study looking at the long-term effects of hospitalized patients who have acute kidney injury (AKI), a sudden but temporary loss of kidney function, Johns Hopkins Medicine researchers found that higher levels of certain biomarkers in urine and blood can predict a patient’s risk of developing chronic kidney disease (CKD).

The findings, published on March 23, in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, could help doctors better understand whether or not the body is healing properly, after someone sustains kidney damage, and potentially prevent the progression of AKI to CKD.

The kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs that help clean your blood and remove waste from the body. AKI occurs when your kidneys stop working properly, which can cause waste to build up in your blood, making it hard for the body to balance fluids. Although treatable, AKI could lead to CKD, a much more severe and potentially fatal condition, and other heart problems. AKI is most commonly seen in hospitalized patients whose kidneys are affected by medical and surgical stress and complications, potentially resulting in a longer recovery process and prolonged harm to the kidneys.

“About 20% of hospitalized patients develop AKI and have a three- to eight-fold increased risk of developing chronic kidney disease later on in life,” says Chirag Parikh, M.D., Ph.D. director of the Division of Nephrology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and the study’s corresponding author. “AKI incidence in the hospital continues to rise, so we set out to understand how and why AKI progresses to CKD, and if monitoring these patients over time can give us clues to kidney disease progression.”

Source: Certain Substances in Urine and Blood Can Predict Kidney Disease Progression