Walking helps people with chronic kidney disease live a longer life with reduced risk of needing dialysis or a kidney transplant, a latest study shows.
Researchers Che-Yi Chou MD, PhD, Chiz-Tzung Chang, PhD (China Medical University Hospital, in Taiwan) and team conducted an analysis on 6,363 patients with CKD stages 3 to 5 in the CKD program of China Medical University Hospital from June 2003 to May 2013. The age of the patients was 70 on an average. They all were followed for an average of 1.3 years.
The team noted that just over 21 percent of patients reported walking as their most common form of exercise. During follow-up, researchers found that those who walked were 33 percent less likely to have an early death and 21 percent had reduced chances of needing dialysis or a kidney transplant. The more patients walked, the more they benefited.
The researchers found that the presence of other, or co morbid, conditions such as cardiovascular problems and diabetes was similar between walking and non-walking patients.
"We have shown that CKD patients with comorbidities were able to walk if they wanted to, and that walking for exercise is associated with improved patient survival and a lower risk of dialysis," Dr Chou said in a press release. "A minimal amount of walking-just once a week for less than 30 minutes-appears to be beneficial, but more frequent and longer walking may provide a more beneficial effect."
The study "Association of Walking with Survival and Renal Replacement Therapy" will be published in the upcoming issue of the 'Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology'.
