A PIONEERING Glasgow study could help prevent the deaths of hundreds of Scots from heart disease.
Research has shown for the first time how kidney disease damages the heart muscle.
People with kidney failure, on dialysis, are five times more likely to develop heart disease - around 34% of patients will die after suffering a cardiac arrest.
If patients are transplanted, the risk reduces dramatically.
It is thought that the damage to the heart may be linked to a build up of toxins in the body, which are normally eliminated by the kidneys.
Dr Paddy Mark, a kidney doctor at the Western Infirmary, is leading the first study of its kind in the UK at Glasgow University to find out why.
Using special MRI scanning technique he has shown how kidney disease causes scarring to develop on the heart.
People on dialysis cannot tolerate the dye that is used to diagnose other heart conditions in an MRI scanner.
A team at the University of Glasgow has developed a special scanning technique which does not require the use of dye.
It is hoped that the study will identify patients at higher risk of cardiac arrest, who could be treated with new or existing drugs such as beta blockers to help minimise the risk.
Dr Paddy Mark said: "It is difficult to be certain of an exact figure but it is pretty reasonable to state that the risk of heart disease for dialysis patients is approximately five times higher than that of the general population.
"This is a striking figure. The reasons why are largely unknown.
"Many of these patients have other risk factors such as diabetes or smoking. However, even when you take all of these factors into consideration, they are still at a very high risk.
"What our scans have shown is it causes a kind of scarring in healthy hearts called fibrosis which puts patients at higher risk of heart disease.
"Once you get a transplant the risk is dramatically reduced."
A total of 35 patients who are being treated at the Western Infirmary are taking part in the two-year study, funded by the charity Kidney Research UK.
More than 500 people in Scotland are waiting for a transplant - around 450 of them are waiting for a kidney.
In Glasgow, there are almost 300 people on dialysis in need of a transplant.
caroline.wilson@eveningtimes.co.uk
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