Smoking linked to kidney damage

According to a recent research it was found that men who smoke have more than triple the risk of developing impaired kidney function compared with their non smoking peers. In women, on the other hand, smoking was not associated with any kidney problems. There are reportedly more than 184 million tobacco users in India of which 40 million smoke cigarettes. Nicotine addiction compels Indians to spend Rs. 18,000 crore on 9000 crore cigarettes every year. While experts have long recognised the additional damage smoking can do to the kidneys of people with diabetes or high blood pressure, there has been little research on how smoking affects healthy people's kidneys. Researchers from Monash University in Clayton, Australia evaluated the smoking habits and kidney health of 11, 247 otherwise healthy men and women aged 25 and older. The report indicated that men who smoked were more likely to have high levels of protein in their urine, an indicator of impaired kidney function. The association was particularly strong in those with high-normal levels of blood pressure or blood sugar metabolism. The data indicates that the general public without typical risk factors for kidney disease of (high blood pressure) and diabetes should be warned that smoking is associated with kidney damage, in addition to its other known health consequences.