But it is also effective in lowering cholesterol and reducing your risk for heart disease, stroke, kidney stones and diabetes, its website states.

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These conditions can lead to increased risk of heart disease, stroke, kidney disease and blindness, among other chronic conditions, particularly if left untreated or poorly treated.

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These work in dialysis and help cancer patients, but today Amgen is facing an Food and Drug Administration advisory panel because a large clinical trial showed that instead of improving the prognosis of pre-dialysis kidney patients, Aranesp increased stroke.

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However, statin pre-treatment had no influence on the risk of dying, stroke, heart attack or kidney failure around the time of the operation.

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Most talked about is the risk of cardiovascular disease, which includes an increased risk of heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease, as well as kidney disease and diabetic eye disease.

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It doubles the risk of heart disease and stroke, and it is the country's leading cause of adult blindness, kidney failure, and non-traumatic amputations.

ECONOMIST: Diabetes

The RED-HF investigators noted that this observation was consistent with an elevated risk for stroke associated with darbepoetin alfa found in the TREAT trial of patients with diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and anemia.

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