Sept. 18 (HealthDay News) -- Shedding pounds may be good for most people, but especially for those with kidney disease, a new study has found.

A review of previously published studies on weight loss through diet, exercise or surgical intervention found that the weight loss had a positive effect on kidney function in obese kidney disease patients, according to the article appearing online Sept. 17 in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Traditional weight loss from dieting and exercising cut down on proteinuria -- the increased output of protein in the urine -- while also preventing kidney function from worsening, the researchers noted in a news release from the American Society of Nephrology. In addition, surgical procedures to induce weight loss helped bring down high filtration rates, a condition that increases disease risk in kidney patients, the studies showed.

The authors of the new report, led by Dr. Sankar Navaneethan of the Cleveland Clinic, pointed out that their findings were based on their review of only 13 studies, and that a larger, more long-term look at weight loss and kidney function in obese kidney disease patients should be completed before definitive conclusions are drawn.

SOURCE: American Society of Nephrology, news release, Sept. 17, 2009