The Fairer Sex, With Benefits

It seems chronic kidney disease may progress more slowly in women.

This is according to Adeera Levin, MD, Professor of Nephrology at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, and colleagues.

They analyzed data from 3,444 patients with a mean age of 66 and eGFR of 27.6.

After a mean follow-up period of 47 months, 36% of women started renal replacement therapy (RRT) compared with 42% of men, Dr. Levin reported at the Canadian Society of Nephrology annual meeting in Edmonton, Alberta.

After adjusting for confounders, men were 30% more likely than women to start RRT. The mean annual decline in eGFR was 3.36 for men compared with 2.60 for women. The genders did not differ significantly with respect to mortality: 14% of each group died during the study period.

This is interesting. Unfortunately there is not much information about the comorbidities of these patients other than their age, gender and eGFR. It is also uncertain if this translates into other non-Canadian populations. Anyway, I thought it was an interesting study to share this morning.