Kidney failure patients live longer if they have high cholesterol

This study was published in Kidney International 2002 May;61(5):1887-93

Study title and authors:

Hypocholesterolemia is a significant predictor of death in a cohort of chronic hemodialysis patients.

Iseki K, Yamazato M, Tozawa M, Takishita S.

Dialysis Unit and Third Department of Internal Medicine, University of The Ryukyus, Okinawa, Japan. chihokun@med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp

This study can be accessed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11967041

The study investigated the impact of cholesterol levels in kidney failure patients receiving hemodialysis treatment. The study included 1,167 hemodialysis patients who were followed for ten years.

The study found that 12.7% more patients survived who had the highest cholesterol, above 220 mg/dL (5.7 mmol/L), compared to the patients with the lowest cholesterol, below 140 mg/dL (3.6 mmol/L).