Regular exercise can combat chronic kidney disease, researchers say

Adults living with overweight and type 2 diabetes are less at risk of developing chronic kidney disease if they frequently take part in moderate-to-vigorous physical activities, evidence shows. 

A total of 1,746 individuals in the the Look AHEAD trial took part in the study, all of whom had a baseline estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) higher than or equal to 60 mL/min/1.73 m^2.

During the investigation, moderate-to-vigorous physical activity was measured at baseline in year one, four and eight using an RT3 accelerometer. The outcome was progression to chronic kidney disease or end-stage kidney disease.

The team of researchers used Cox hazards models to examine how moderate-to-vigorous physical activity impacts the participant’s health outcomes.

They found that 567 participants experienced progression to chronic kidney disease. The results state: “Overall, there was a linear inverse association of cumulative average total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity accumulated in bouts of higher or equal to 10 minutes with progression to chronic kidney disease.

“Moreover, an increase in total moderate-to-vigorous physical activity from baseline to year four was associated with a 33 per cent lower risk of progression to chronic kidney disease compared with the largest moderate-to-vigorous physical activity reduction.

“A lower risk of progression to chronic kidney disease was also observed for increases in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity accumulated in bouts of both lower than 10 minutes and higher or equal to 10 minutes.”

The study is available here.