How Obesity Increases Your Risk for Chronic Kidney Disease

Learning about the risk factors for kidney disease is important. Why? Because it gives you the chance to lower your risks and prevent an incurable and potentially deadly disease. Or, if kidney damage has already occurred, changing your risk factors can stop the problem from getting worse.

Deon Middlebrook, MD, specializes in all aspects of kidney health. At our practice, Deon D. Middlebrook MDPC, he helps people in the Detroit community protect their kidneys. He offers exceptional preventive care and provides comprehensive medical care after chronic kidney disease (CKD) develops.

Here, he explains the connection between a major risk factor, obesity, and CKD. 

Risk factors for chronic kidney disease

Risk factors refer to any habit or health condition that increases your chance of developing kidney disease. Some risk factors are changeable, giving you the opportunity to eliminate them and prevent the kidney damage responsible for CKD.

The top CKD risk factors (other than obesity) include having diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), or heart failure — three conditions that are caused by other risk factors you control, like an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, and smoking.

African Americans have a much higher risk of developing CKD and progressing to kidney failure compared to other races. That’s why we specialize in reaching out to the African American community, working together to keep their kidneys healthy. 

Your chances also increase if you have a close family member diagnosed with CKD. However, a family history doesn’t mean you’re destined for kidney problems. You can overcome inherited tendencies by following a healthy lifestyle.

Obesity’s impact on chronic kidney disease

Being overweight or obese significantly increases your risk of developing kidney disease. In fact, obesity contributes to up to one-third of all cases of CKD.

Carrying extra weight doesn’t just cause CKD, it also accelerates the progression of existing kidney disease. As a result, you have more kidney damage at a faster pace and rapid loss of kidney function. Ultimately, you develop kidney failure sooner than expected.

Though carrying weight around your stomach (abdominal obesity) is often associated with chronic conditions, having excess fat anywhere on your body contributes to kidney damage.

How obesity damages your kidneys

Obesity poses a double threat because it damages your kidneys two ways, directly and indirectly.

Indirect kidney damage

Being overweight causes Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure. Since they’re the top two causes of CKD, they indirectly connect obesity to kidney damage.

Direct kidney damage

Obesity significantly increases the stress on your kidneys. These remarkable organs work constantly, filtering your blood to remove wastes that develop during metabolism, regulating fluid levels and blood pressure, and maintaining steady levels of the minerals that keep nerves and muscles working.

As excess weight adds to the kidneys’ workload, their delicate blood vessels and tissues become damaged and inflamed. As a result, permanent scar tissue develops. This is the beginning of chronic kidney disease.

Without treatment, more tissues suffer damage and the scarring spreads. Scar tissue can’t function like healthy kidney tissue, making it harder and harder for the kidneys to do their job. 

Over time, such a large portion of your kidneys becomes damaged that they stop functioning. That’s when CKD has progressed to kidney failure.

Don’t wait to seek kidney care 

Don’t wait for symptoms to appear, because by then you already have kidney disease. Instead, consider seeking preventive care if you’re overweight, and especially if you have other risk factors like diabetes and high blood pressure.

Call Deon Middlebrook, MD, or connect online to request an appointment and take steps to protect your kidneys.