A routine test that measures levels of a protein in urine samples may reveal early, symptomless cardiovascular disease in postmenopausal women, Dutch researchers report in the June 26 issue of Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
The researchers took urine samples and measured albumin levels from 1118 healthy postmenopausal women who were followed up for as many as 18 years. Women in the highest quintile for urinary albumin levels had an age-adjusted cardiovascular death rate 4.4 times that of women without detectable urinary albumin.
It is believed albumin appears in urine because blood vessels in the kidneys are leaking due to malfunctioning endothelial cells.
"Our finding supports the hypothesis that albumin in the urine is a reflection of vascular damage and a marker of early disease," said Jan Dirk Banga, MD, PhD, a coauthor of the report and consultant in vascular medicine at the University Medical . . . [Full Text of this Article]
