# ESC and ERA guideline: about 100 million Europeans have chronic kidney disease, heart risk raised

- Published: 2026-11-09 01:01 UTC
- Section: Life & Health › Medicine
- Tags: chronic kidney disease Europe, ESC ERA guideline, 100 million CKD, STAMP on CKD, RAS inhibitors, SGLT2 inhibitors, statins, cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome, OPTIMAL-DIABETES trial
- URL: https://realtech.media/news/rt-b6f69b7d3e0d4a883aa20738_esc_and_era/

**The European Society of Cardiology and the European Renal Association issued a joint guideline on chronic kidney disease and cardiovascular risk. It proposes the STAMP on CKD framework.**

![ESC and ERA guideline: about 100 million Europeans have chronic kidney disease, heart risk raised](https://realtech.media/media/2026/11/279fefaff56c2d6f.webp)
*ad-hoc-news.de*

The European Society of Cardiology and the European Renal Association presented a joint guideline on 7 November 2026, ad-hoc-news.de reports. The document refers to about 100 million people in Europe with chronic kidney disease and to their sharply increased cardiovascular risk [1].

Task force chair Kevin Damman stressed that kidney disease and cardiovascular disease accelerate each other [1]. The guideline takes an integrated approach to both conditions.

## The STAMP on CKD framework

As a framework for action, the guideline formulates the concept "STAMP on CKD" [1]. It provides for systematic screening, structured risk assessment and the coordinated use of RAS inhibitors, SGLT2 inhibitors and statins [1].

A similar integrative line was taken in June 2026 by US societies, among them the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, the American Diabetes Association and the American Society of Nephrology. Their guideline extends the 2023 recommendations and calls for a strictly interdisciplinary approach to cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic syndrome [1].

## Blood pressure targets in diabetes: trial data

The material also cites the randomized OPTIMAL-DIABETES trial as an example of how complex it is to set therapy goals when several risk factors coexist. It was led by Karla Santo of Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein in São Paulo and included 9,476 adults aged 50 and older with type 2 diabetes at 33 Brazilian centers; recruitment ran from August 2019 to October 2021 [1].

The trial compared a systolic target below 120 mmHg with a standard target below 140 mmHg. After three months the achieved values were 122 and 135 mmHg [1]. Over a median follow-up of four years, the primary cardiovascular endpoint occurred in 286 participants (6.0 percent) in the intensive group and 315 (5.7 percent in the sense of 6.7 percent) in the control group; the difference was not statistically significant [1].

Renal events were recorded in 270 participants (5.7 percent) versus 175 (3.7 percent), mainly because of a decline in estimated filtration rate [1]. Santo called for individually adjusted treatment. In the sister trial OPTIMAL-STROKE, with 4,368 people after ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack, the target below 120 mmHg significantly reduced severe cardiovascular events, although more renal events were also recorded there [1].

## Sources

1. [ad-hoc-news.de](https://www.ad-hoc-news.de/wissenschaft/chronische-nierenerkrankung-100-millionen-betroffene-in-europa-im-fokus/70478276)

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Source: RealTech, realtech.media — https://realtech.media/news/rt-b6f69b7d3e0d4a883aa20738_esc_and_era/