Alcohol Consumption Can be a Double-Edged Sword for Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

how alcohol affects the kidneys

However, the study authors also mentioned that more studies are needed to explore the connection between AUD and kidney function. Alcohol does not cause direct harm to the kidneys, how alcohol affects the kidneys especially when consumed in a safe manner. However, if you have kidney disease, you need to be mindful of how much you drink and the downstream effects that alcohol can have on your body.

Alcohol Consumption Can be a “Double-Edged Sword” for Chronic Kidney Disease Patients

According to a 2017 review, the question of whether alcohol consumption affects kidney function remains controversial. We used data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) in 2001, 2005, and 2009; the National Health Insurance research database; and, the National Deaths Dataset. All data were composed, organized, and explored in the Health and Welfare Data Science Center of Ministry of Health and Welfare in Taiwan. The National Health Interview Survey selected participants while using a multistage stratified systematic sampling design. Participant information, including education, income, marriage status, and lifestyle behaviors, were obtained during in-person interviews.

how alcohol affects the kidneys

Special Benefits and Confounding Factors of Alcohol Consumption

  • The data set did not contain laboratory data and the CKD diagnosis was dependent on the ICD-9-CM code.
  • There are mixed conclusions about whether or not alcohol causes kidney failure specifically.
  • Long-term, heavy alcohol use can lead to acute kidney injury, chronic kidney disease, and kidney failure.
  • The amount of alcohol being consumed is an important factor when it comes to kidney health.The general consensus of what makes up one drink is twelve ounces of beer, one glass (about 5 ounces) of wine, or a 1.5 ounces shot of liquor.
  • Investigators have observed alcohol-related changes in the structure and function of the kidneys and impairment in their ability to regulate the volume and composition of fluid and electrolytes in the body.

All donations made today will be matched 4X by a generous matching donor. In general, the proximal part of the amphetamine addiction treatment small intestine is the main site for alcohol absorption. Additionally, the stomach, large intestine, esophagus, and even the mouth can absorb small amounts of ethyl alcohol 21.

  • Future research will hopefully explore these hypotheses to provide a better understanding of alcoholic kidney injury.
  • In this review, we focused on the effect of ethyl alcohol on the kidneys and the effect of drinking on patients with CKD, and summarized the clinical and experimental studies.
  • Such modified phospholipids may in turn activate immune cells called neutrophil granulocytes, which further aggravates oxidative stress, promoting a vicious cycle (Latchoumycandane et al. 2015).
  • Therefore, excessive alcohol consumption places a major strain on the normal metabolic processes of the kidneys.
  • Some studies found that ethanol has an influence on renal damage, such as apoptosis and epithelial mesenchymal transdifferentiation.
  • If it is caught early, an acute kidney injury can usually heal over time.

Kidney Failure and Alcohol Consumption

A recent meta-analysis (Cheungpasitporn et al. 2015) found little support for such a relationship. Their analysis included 20 studies representing a total of 292,431 patients. In turn, heavy alcohol consumption is implicated in the development of these cardiac diseases, with chronic, heavy drinkers at higher risk than those who consume small to moderate amounts of alcohol.

how alcohol affects the kidneys

Abnormal immunoreaction and renal tubular dysfunction to alcohol consumption

In other studies, the researchers used serum creatinine or eGFR to ascertain the kidney function of patients; however, they are not ideal in many drinkers, especially in those with extremely low or high muscle mass due to chronic alcoholism 123. One of the reasons for https://ecosoberhouse.com/ this sex difference might be the different pharmacokinetics of ethyl alcohol between men and women. Since women, with a lower proportion of body water, have a smaller distribution volume for alcohol, they are more likely to have a higher concentration of alcohol in the blood than men. Moreover, women with a lower activity of gastric alcohol dehydrogenase have lower gastric first-pass metabolism of alcohol, which also leads to a higher concentration of alcohol than in men 92.