Predictors of Future Kidney Failure Found in Adolescent Males

In a study of Swedish men who had a physical examination in the early 1970s (when the majority of them were 18 and 19 years old), the presence of proteinuria in adolescence was associated with a sevenfold increased risk of developing ESRD. Low-grade inflammation found by testing for the erythrocyte sedimentation rate in blood indicated a twofold increase in kidney failure risk. Hypertension quadrupled the risk of developing ESRD, while a BMI ≥30 kg/m² increased the ESRD risk by 3.5 times. In the American Journal of Kidney Diseasesstudy, 534 ESRD cases were matched with 5127 controls.