Kidney failure patients’ risk of early mortality increases with cardiovascular causes

Kidney failure patients face a higher risk of dying early due to cardiovascular causes. The study found that dialysis patients may have altered blood clotting, which increases their risk of bleeding and stroke.

The researchers analyzed the blood of 171 chronic hemodialysis patients and found that they had denser clot structures, compared to patients without kidney disease. Furthermore, patients with compact clots were at a higher risk of death from cardiovascular causes, along with a higher risk of mortality from other causes, too. Lastly, in dialysis patients, the protein that is actively participating in the clotting process – fibrinogen – exhibits certain modifications that are different from patients without kidney disease.

Researcher Katharina Schütt concluded, “Whether better dialysis treatment or medication could improve clot structure needs to be investigated in future studies.”

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