Coffee may have another benefit for kidney patients

Friday, September 14, 2018 (HealthDay News) – Could this morning cup of coffee help people with kidney disease?

According to a new study of nearly 5,000 people with chronic kidney failure, an increase in daily caffeine intake appeared to reduce the risk of premature death.

The benefit remained "even after taking into account other important factors such as age, sex, race, smoking, other illnesses and diet ", according to one of the main authors of the study, Miguel Bigotte Vieira, from the Lisbon Hospital Center.

In this study, the Vieira team followed data from 4,863 patients with chronic kidney disease in the United States, followed from 1999 to 2010.

Although the study failed to prove the cause and effect, it showed that greater caffeine consumption was related to greater life expectancy for those with high blood pressure. chronic renal failure.

Compared with those who ate very little caffeine a day, people with high caffeine intake had a risk of death that was about 25% lower over an average of five years.

Those who consumed the most caffeine were generally Caucasian and male, more educated and with higher incomes. They were also more likely to be current or former smokers and heavier drinkers than those who only drank small amounts of caffeine.

The results were published on September 12 Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation.

According to the researchers, chronic kidney disease affects 14% of US adults, leading to increased health costs and increased risk of death.

Thus, drinking more coffee or other caffeinated beverages "would be a simple, clinically beneficial and inexpensive option, but this benefit should ideally be confirmed in a randomized clinical trial," Vieira said in a statement. Press.

An American endocrinologist who was not associated with the study said there may be physiological reasons for the benefit.

"The coffee got a bad rap, but this study showed that people who drink coffee did better," said Dr. Robert Courgi, of Southside Hospital in Bay Shore, New York.

"Maybe it's because coffee can help the blood vessels work better with nitric oxide," he said. Nitric oxide is a key player in the function of blood vessels.

More information

The National Library of Medicine in the United States provides more information about caffeine.