'BP control may cut premature death risk in kidney patients'

Strict blood pressure control in patients with chronic kidney disease may help protect them against premature death, a new study has claimed.
Some recent clinical trials that followed participants for several years have shown that lowering systolic blood pressure to less than 120 mm Hg (which is lower than the currently recommended goal) is beneficial for heart health and longevity, researchers said.
On the other hand, some longer-term observational studies have suggested that lower blood pressure levels may be harmful, they said.
To better examine the long-term health of individuals with chronic kidney disease who were exposed to a period of intensive blood pressure control, Elaine Ku from University of California, San Francisco in the US and colleagues studied prior participants of two completed randomised controlled trials of intensive blood pressure lowering.

These studies have previously reported that intensive blood pressure lowering may not protect against kidney failure.
When they pooled the results of 2 decades of follow-up from these studies (including more than 1900 patients), researchers found that having a lower blood pressure target than the currently guideline-recommended goal of 140/90 mm Hg was safe and associated with protection against premature death.

Among the subset of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) patients with higher levels of proteinuria, this strategy also protected against kidney failure.
"The data that we provide include outcomes beyond the typical duration of clinical trials of blood pressure control and demonstrate the long-term safety of tighter blood pressure control, with potential benefits from a mortality standpoint in patients with known kidney disease," said Ku.

The findings were published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).