Smoking May Hinder Some Of The Benefits Of Kidney Disease Drugs

Smoking cigarettes may lead to the decrease in the effectiveness of certain kidney disease drugs, a new study suggests.

The study, presented at an American Society of Nephrology conference, tracked 108 smokers and 108 nonsmokers who were also taking angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (blood pressure lowering medicine) for early chronic kidney diseases. Researchers enrolled all the smokers in a quit-smoking program, and 25 quit.

Participants were tracked for five years. Kidney function worsened faster in smokers compared to nonsmokers and those who quit. Additionally, smokers also showed signs that the drugs weren't protecting their kidneys as well, possibly because cigarette smoking caused oxidative stress.

Researchers further confirmed that these findings need to be confirmed in larger studies.

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