Of the approximately 242,000 people with heart failure in the Netherlands, roughly half also develop kidney function problems. With a Dekker grant of 160,000 euros from the Heart Foundation, doctor-researcher Iris Beldhuis (UMCG) will investigate whether patients with heart failure and kidney problems can be better treated with medicines against heart failure.
Several new heart failure drugs have been discovered in recent years, but out of caution they have not been tested in patients who have poor kidney function in addition to heart failure. It is therefore still unknown how effective these drugs are in patients with kidney problems. Beldhuis thinks this is a shame and thinks that these people in particular could benefit from the heart medicines. Previous research has shown that the drugs seem to work better when they have an effect on the kidneys. If the kidney function decreases somewhat as a result of the treatment, this may mean that the treatment is working.
Over the next 2 years, Beldhuis will investigate which heart patients are more susceptible to developing kidney problems, whether this differs between different forms of heart failure and between men and women. She also wants to find out whether the development of kidney function problems after starting treatment means that the heart failure medication is working. The ultimate goal of the research is that more people with heart failure receive optimal treatment.
Bron:
