Andrew Brown The Link Between Cardiovascular Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease: A Literature Review

After browsing multiple scholarly sources about the link between cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD), renal failure, and mild renal insufficiency, there is one pressing concern that has arisen: the healthcare system is not recognizing that cardiovascular disease risk factors need to be treated proactively when patients begin to develop CKD. This leads to an increased rate of CVD mortality, even in patients with mild renal insufficiency. Increased CVD mortality in patients with renal dysfunction must be halted; it is possible with further research into the direct mechanisms by which CKD accelerates CVD development. There were three themes evident when browsing the available scholarly sources: first, there is a greatly enhanced risk of developing CVD in patients diagnosed with CKD, ESRD, and mild renal insufficiency; second, there are specific renal functionalities that are associated with the increase in CVD risk and mortality; and third, restoration of renal function by transplantation lowers CVD risk and mortality. Although the exact mechanisms of CVD development in relation to impaired renal function have not been explicitly defined, this literature review attempts to synopsize the previous research on the topic as well as provide new insight into what future research should entail.