Many young adults with abdominal obesity are at a heightened risk for chronic kidney disease (CKD), yet majorities are unaware of the risk, suggests new research led by an Indian-origin scientist. Many doctors are not warning their obese patients of their risk of kidney disease.

The research team analyzed nearly 7,000 adults across the U.S. and found that 11 percent of Mexican Americans and six percent of obese whites and blacks had elevated levels of protein albumin in their urine. Elevated albumin levels are an early warning sign of declining kidney function and an increased risk of chronic kidney disease.

Abdominal obesity — also known as central obesity — is when excessive abdominal fat around the stomach and abdomen has built up to the extent that it is likely to have a negative impact on health.

Lead author Dr. Michal Melamed said, “Even though chronic kidney disease typically manifests in older people, the disease can start much earlier but often is not recognized early on.”

“Clearly, clinicians and public health officials need to do more to identify and treat young people at risk for early progressive kidney disease so they can adopt the behavioral changes to prevent [kidney disease] from occurring,” Melamed added.

Harini Sarathy, clinical and research fellow at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) in the US said “In this study we wanted to evaluate whether obesity is associated with CKD even in an otherwise healthy young adult population and to identify risk factors that may promote this association.”

Also found was that among all young adults with albuminuria, fewer than five percent had ever been told they have kidney disease.

Obesity should be considered an independent risk factor for CKD and that doctors should be testing for kidney damage when evaluating obese young adults, the researchers suggested.

Previous studies have shown that obesity could harm kidney function sooner than high blood pressure and diabetes, which are both risk factors for chronic kidney disease. Maintaining a healthy weight lowers your risk of chronic kidney disease as well as your risk of diabetes and high blood pressure, the conditions that can contribute to further health complications.

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