Talking about heart disease, it seems that you're much more likely to develop it if you also have chronic kidney disease. In fact kidney health and functioning could be a useful indicator for future heart disease.
Researchers made the association after they reviewed the health profiles of 4,383 men and women. Instead of using the traditional measures of renal functioning - which can be affected by age, sex and muscle bulk - they instead measured serum concentrations of cystatin C, a new and more sensitive marker than creatinine.
They discovered that the risk of heart failure rose with the levels of cystatin C, and at its higher levels patients were more than twice as likely to suffer heart attack.
Interestingly, when the research team monitored creatinine levels - which is the way that every research team has looked for an association before now - the association between kidney and heart health disappeared. The researchers say that their findings suggest that creatinine is a blunt instrument that does not take account of variables. The trouble is, almost nobody is set up to carry out the measurements. Now there's a commercial idea for our more entrepreneurial readers.