Low cholesterol increases kidney disease death rate

Low cholesterol and protein levels in the blood also portend a higher death rate in kidney disease patients according to a study conducted at the Department of Medicine, Morehouse School of Medicine, Atlanta, Georgia in 1999.[1]

While age, gender, and underlying chronic medical conditions were not predictive of mortality, both low protein and low cholesterol levels were.

This finding was reinforced four years later at the University of California in a study of kidney dialysis patients.[2]

This study found that patients were more likely to survive if they were overweight and had high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure.



References
1. Obialo CI, Okonofua EC, Nzerue MC, et al. Role of hypoalbuminemia and hypocholesterolemia as copredictors of mortality in acute renal failure. Kidney Int. 1999; 56: 1058-63.
2. Kalantar-Zadeh K, Block G, Humphreys MH, Kopple JD. Reverse epidemiology of cardiovascular risk factors in maintenance dialysis patients. Kidney Int 2003; 63: 793-808.