Severely obese patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) show significant improvements in kidney function one year after obesity treatment surgery, according to a recent study presented at the 29th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Therapeutic Surgery. This study found that patients either changed from moderate to mild disease or from mild to normal over a period of time lasting one year. ”With bariatric treatment surgery we are gradually attacking the two main enemies of chronic kidney disease – hyperglycemia and hypertension,” said study co-author Dr. Weijie Li from Min Sheng General Hospital and National Taiwan University Hospital. “However, this study suggests that the earlier we treat chronic kidney disease with bariatric surgery during the course of the disease, the more beneficial the impact on the kidneys will be. The study, conducted under the direction of researchers at Min Sheng General Hospital and National Taiwan University Hospital, included 233 patients, averaging 33 years old, with a body mass index of 39.5 (about 80 pounds). About 20% of the patients had mild to moderate chronic kidney disease, and another 25% had a precursor to chronic kidney disease. Greater than 90% of patients had type II diabetes and nearly half had hypertension. According to the National Kidney Foundation (NKF), the two leading causes of chronic kidney disease are diabetes and hypertension, which are responsible for two-thirds of the 26 million people with chronic kidney disease in the United States. After bariatric surgery, patients lost more than 60 percent of their excess weight and their glomerular filtration rate (GFR), a measure of how well the kidneys are working, improved regardless of the stage of chronic kidney disease they were in. In the mild disease group, GFR improved from 81.0 ml/min to 98.6 ml/min, and in the moderate disease group, GFR improved from 49.3 ml/min to 66.8 ml/min. Nearly 60 percent of patients in these groups had remission of type II diabetes. The American Kidney Foundation said that normal glomerular filtration rates ranged from 90 ml/min to 120 ml/min, and those with hyperfiltration (an early sign of underlying kidney disease in which the kidneys filter much more than normal blood) had a reduction in filtration rate from 146.5 ml/min to 133 ml/min. The rate of diabetes remission in this group was greater than 83%. For patients with normal renal function before surgery, it continued to be normal after surgery and nearly three quarters of the patients had improved diabetes.