Cardiovascular disease and chronic renal disease: A new paradigm

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality among patients with chronic renal disease (CRD). Despite improvement in treatment for CVD over the past 30 years, CVD mortality is approximately 15 times higher in dialysis patients than in the general population. The high prevalence of CVD among incident dialysis patients suggests that CVD begins in earlier stages of CRD, and that implementation of risk factor reduction strategies earlier in the course of CRD may provide an opportunity to prevent CVD in CRD. Based on parallels between CVD and renal disease progression, we have proposed a paradigm that CVD and CRD are outcomes of the same underlying disorders. We propose that risk factor reduction strategies used to prevent CVD in the general population also be applied to patients with CRD, with the hope of preventing progression of renal disease, as well as preventing CVD. (C) 2000 by the National Kidney Foundation, Inc.