Nephropathy News and Research

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Nephropathy is a broad medical term used to denote disease or damage of the kidney, which can eventually result in kidney failure. The primary and most obvious functions of the kidney are to excrete any waste products and to regulate the water and acid-base balance of the body – therefore loss of kidney function is a potentially fatal condition.

One in four deaths among women with heart failure can be attributed to kidney problems

About one in four deaths among women with heart failure can be attributed to kidney problems, and more deaths are linked to renal insufficiency than to any other single risk factor, according to a new study in the Oct. 19, 2004 issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

18 Oct 2004

Discovery of fundamental mechanism within cells that link obesity and type 2 diabetes

Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health have discovered what they believe is the fundamental mechanism within cells that links two fast-rising public health threats: obesity and Type 2 diabetes.

18 Oct 2004

Signaling pathway could be a valuable target for future drug therapies against systemic lupus erythematosus

Medical investigators at the Hospital for Special Surgery have identified an important new signaling pathway they believe could be a valuable target for scientists to aim at with future drug therapies that might one day reverse diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, according to a recent article published in “Nature Immunology.”

11 Oct 2004

Aspirin might well be considered the top utility player in the medicine cabinet

This cheap over-the-counter drug can be used not only for fever, pain and arthritis, but to prevent heart attack, stroke or angina. It also may reduce the risk of colorectal cancer. Yet aspirin also has side effects worth considering, and its very accessibility may hamper its use.

8 Oct 2004

Indiana health officials are appealing to health care providers to limit use of this year’s diminished supply of flu vaccine

Indiana State health officials are appealing to health care providers to limit use of this year’s diminished supply of flu vaccine to immunizing people at high risk from complications of influenza.

6 Oct 2004

Influenza is a contagious disease caused by an RNA virus of the orthomyxoviridae family

Influenza (or as it is commonly known, the flu) is a contagious disease caused by an RNA virus of the orthomyxoviridae family (The orthomyxoviridae is a family of RNA viruses which infect vertebrate).

6 Oct 2004

Studies confirm that chronic kidney disease independently increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease

A pair of new epidemiology studies confirms that chronic kidney disease independently increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, even among people with early kidney disease and after considering other risk factors such as diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol.

29 Sep 2004

Understanding how kidneys absorb protein from urine will help fight kidney disease in diabetics

A team of University of Queensland researchers led by Dr Philip Poronnik, a senior lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences, is unravelling the molecular processes in the kidney which retrieves proteins.

23 Sep 2004

Chronic kidney disease increases a person's risk of heart disease, stroke, or death

The retrospective cohort study evaluated the histories of more than 1.1 million adults who were patients of Kaiser Permanente between 1996 and 2000. The average age of the group studied was 52 years; 55% of the group was female.

23 Sep 2004

Link between elevated blood sugar levels in diabetics and increased risk of life-threatening forms of cardiovascular disease

A Johns Hopkins study suggests that people with type I and type II diabetes would be well advised to monitor their blood sugar levels more than the usual twice daily to make sure that levels are not elevated over 150 milligrams per deciliter for sustained periods.

20 Sep 2004

Severe infections with flesh-eating bacteria are considerably more common than expected

In an EU project covering 11 countries, headed by Lund University in Sweden, it was calculated that some 1,000 cases would be found over an initial 1½-year period. Fully 5,000 were identified.

16 Sep 2004

Newly completed Chromosome 5 sequence will be a powerful tool for scientists trying to understand human disease

Four years after publicly revealing the official draft human genetic sequence, researchers have reached the halfway point in dotting the i's and crossing the t's of the genetic sentences describing how to build a human.

16 Sep 2004

A new non-invasive test for kidney disease

A new non-invasive test for kidney disease, developed by clinicians at Hammersmith Hospitals NHS Trust and Imperial College London, is providing a simple, safe, cheap and reliable method of detecting kidney disease.

13 Sep 2004

Many factors influence quality of life for patients with irritable bowel syndrome

The quality of life for patients with irritable bowel syndrome is as related to non-gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms, including tiring easily and feeling tense, as it is to GI symptoms associated with the disorder

12 Sep 2004

Cancer drug may reduce kidney disease in lupus

A drug that is already being tested as an anticancer agent, especially in lymphoma, may also reduce the kidney disease that is a result of systemic lupus, according to a researcher at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

10 Sep 2004

Findings about diabetic eye disease may lead to improved screenings and treatment for people with diabetes

Eli Lilly and Company have announced key findings from analyses of prior study data that enhances understanding of vision loss due to diabetic retinopathy, a diabetic microvascular complication that affects an estimated 50 million people worldwide.

10 Sep 2004

Studies of human genetic variation have found strong evidence for the action of natural selection

One of the most comprehensive studies of the forces that have shaped patterns of human genetic variation has found strong evidence for the action of natural selection, which may help explain why certain people are at risk for a variety of conditions and others are not.

8 Sep 2004

Exubera shows sustained blood glucose control in patients with type 2 diabetes

New data showed that Exubera (inhaled insulin) was effective and well tolerated in controlling blood glucose levels over a two-year period in patients with Type 2 diabetes.

8 Sep 2004

Postmenopausal women with heart disease have three fold increased risk of heart failure if they also have diabetes

In addition, diabetic women in the study who also had kidney disease or obesity, or whose diabetes was poorly controlled (fasting blood sugar levels above 300 mg/dL) had a risk of heart failure 6-10 times higher than that of women without diabetes.

7 Sep 2004

Children who take steroid drugs for nephrotic syndrome do not suffer bone loss

Childhood nephrotic syndrome, which affects 3 out of 100,000 children, is the most common chronic kidney disease in children. Although it does not impair kidney function, it weakens the body's ability to remove water and salt from the blood, and causes swelling in the belly, legs, and around the eyes.

25 Aug 2004