Your heart and your kidneys are some of the most vital organs in your body. What most people don’t realize, however, is that there’s a heart-kidney connection that can result in significant health issues if one of these organs is not working at its best.
Heart conditions and kidney disease are not only connected — they’re also all too common. More than one in seven adults has chronic kidney disease, while cardiovascular conditions impact almost half of American adults. But why is the heart-kidney connection so important, and how are clinical trials making a difference?
One of the common denominators in heart and kidney diseases is high blood pressure. Your kidneys are essential for the process of regulating blood pressure. They control both sodium and fluid levels, prompting urination when blood pressure gets too high and retaining fluids when blood pressure drops.
Those who struggle with high blood pressure tend to retain too much sodium and water, leading to added stress on the kidneys. The stress can result in weakening blood vessels and even scarring, putting you at risk of developing chronic kidney problems. Kidney issues can make the organs less efficient at managing blood pressure, which can cause more damage.
When your kidneys can’t help regulate blood pressure, your heart can also be impacted. High blood pressure can damage the arteries that supply blood to the heart, making it much easier for plaque to build. This plaque then makes it harder for blood to flow easily to your organs.
Diabetes, too, is a factor that impacts both the heart and kidneys. Prolonged exposure to high blood sugar can thicken tiny blood vessels called capillaries. Over time, this results in a less efficient filtering capacity for the kidneys. Your heart’s blood vessels can also suffer from high blood sugar levels, putting you at a greater risk of a heart attack.
When your heart or kidneys aren’t working as efficiently as they should and cause damage to each other, you may develop one of the conditions that fits under the umbrella term of cardiorenal syndrome.
If cardiac output is lower and not enough blood flows to the kidneys, the kidneys can be damaged and become less effective at removing waste from the blood. This leads to serious health issues that further harm both of these organs, creating a vicious cycle that puts overall health and quality of life at risk.
Clinical research generally has one goal in mind: helping to prevent or treat the conditions that impact the health of a large number of people. The heart-kidney connection and the way one organ can quickly cause the breakdown of the other has prompted a growing interest in addressing the potential underlying causes of these illnesses.
Studies are focusing on exploring the impact of high blood pressure and sugar levels, as well as how people who already have some form of kidney disease process specific drugs. All of this information can help the scientific community not only further understand how these two organs work in concert, but also the most effective ways of treating issues that affect them.
A newer class of medications that clinical trials have brought to the forefront of the medical community to help prevent kidney damage as a result of diabetes is SGLT2 inhibitors. These medications help to reabsorb sugars back into your body. They also have cardiovascular benefits, working to prevent the weakening of the blood vessels.
Addressing the heart-kidney connection requires extensive research into complex procedures and medications. Research facilities make this possible by providing safe and comfortable locations where clinical trial participants can be observed and tested.
At Orlando Clinical Research Center, we take pride in the quality of the support we offer to scientists and pharmaceutical companies looking for answers to the most complicated health issues. We specialize in Phase I-IV clinical trials and provide amenities for the research team and all participants.
Our facilities have 90 beds and separate arrangements for men and women. With a full staff and a 35,000-square-foot research site, we aim to make both the process of participating and leading research easier. Contact us to learn more about our facilities today or visit our Current Studies page to learn more about the studies we are doing.
