SYDNEY, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- An active lifestyle which includes eating more vegetables, exercising regularly and quitting smoking may lower the risk of developing kidney disease, a new study from Australian and Swedish researchers revealed.
Researchers from Griffith University and Karolinska Institutet in Sweden undertook a systematic review of more than 100 published research papers, to determine which living habits can help to prevent chronic kidney disease.
Drawing on data of more than 2.5 million healthy people from 16 countries, they found a vegetable-rich diet with higher potassium and fewer salt intakes, more exercise, quitting smoking and moderate alcohol consumption may reduce the risk of chronic kidney disease by 14 to 22 percent.
The research paper has been published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
"More and more people get diagnosed with kidney disease each year, which eventually can progress to dialysis or early death without intensive medical treatment, necessitating the need to prevent this condition altogether," first author Jaimon Kelly from Griffith's Menzies Health Institute Queensland said.
"We discovered that lifestyle choices may play a big role in the risk of getting kidney disease and we think these can help clinical decision-making by doctors and healthy patients on lifestyle choices and preventing kidney damage."
"In the absence of randomised intervention studies in the field, this study is the best evidence we have to date on what lifestyle choices can help for primary prevention of kidney disease," said Juan Jesus Carrero, professor of epidemiology at the Karolinska Institutet.
Researchers noted the lifestyle guide only applies to healthy people, and people currently suffering from kidney disease should follow their doctors' advice. Enditem
