Daily dose of baking soda can save kidney
July 18th, 2009 - 2:55 pm ICT by IANSLondon, July 18 (IANS) A daily dose baking soda or sodium bicarbonate, used in baking, cleaning, acid indigestion, sunburn and more slows the decline of kidney function in some patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), a new study has found.
“This cheap and simple strategy also improves patients’ nutritional status, and has the potential of translating into significant economic, quality of life, and clinical outcome benefits,” comments Magdi Yaqoob, of the Royal London Hospital (RLH), who led the study.
Researchers studied 134 patients with advanced CKD and low bicarbonate levels, also called metabolic acidosis. One group received a small daily dose of sodium bicarbonate in tablet form, in addition to their usual care.
For this group, the rate of decline in kidney function was greatly reduced — about two-thirds slower than in patients. “In fact, in patients taking sodium bicarbonate, the rate of decline in kidney function was similar to the normal age-related decline,” says Yaqoob.
Rapid progression of kidney disease occurred in just nine percent of patients taking sodium bicarbonate, compared to 45 percent of the other group. Patients taking sodium bicarbonate were also less likely to develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis.
Patients taking sodium bicarbonate also had improvement in several measures of nutrition. Although their sodium levels went up, this didn’t lead to any problems with increased blood pressure.
Low bicarbonate levels are common in patients with CKD and can lead to a wide range of other problems. “This is the first randomised controlled study of its kind,” says Yaqoob.
“A simple remedy like sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), when used appropriately, can be very effective,” he adds, according to an RLH release.
These findings were published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).
- Baking soda can slow chronic kidney disease progression - Jul 17, 2009
- Chronic kidney disorders threaten India's diabetics (March 10 is World Kidney Day) - Mar 10, 2011
- Depression may increase kidney failure risk - Mar 11, 2011
- Baking soda boosts athletic performance: Study - Oct 26, 2010
- Gene variant that influences chronic kidney disease identified - Mar 10, 2011
- Lower BP may be unhealthy for kidney patients, say expert - Jun 25, 2010
- Now, simple blood test to help predict chronic kidney disease - Oct 22, 2010
- Depression may heighten risk of kidney failure - Mar 11, 2011
- Low blood sugar may be dangerous for kidney disease patients - May 08, 2009
- Limiting salt intake checks BP, protects heart - Aug 13, 2011
- 'Silent strokes' signal increased kidney failure risk in diabetics - Jan 29, 2010
- Low levels of anti-aging hormone may be an indicator of kidney disease - Feb 19, 2011
- Too much diet soda can damage your kidney - Nov 01, 2009
- Sticking to a vegetarian diet may be good for kidney disease patients - Dec 24, 2010
- Simple and cheap urine test could help prevent kidney disease onset - Feb 12, 2009
Tags: acid indigestion, advanced chronic kidney disease, baking soda, chronic kidney disease, clinical outcome, dialysis patients, economic quality, jasn, kidney function, nutritional status, rapid progression, renal disease, rlh, royal london hospital, sodium bicarbonate, sodium levels, stage renal disease esrd, study researchers, sunburn, yaqoob