Nephrology News and Research

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Nephrology is a branch of internal medicine and pediatrics dealing with the study of the function and diseases of the kidney.

Scientists show knocking out key signals will cause diabetes

Using a revolutionary technique to turn off chemical signals inside the cell, scientists at Joslin Diabetes Center have discovered that the different metabolic abnormalities present in type 2 diabetes can be caused by knocking out two key signals in liver cells.

11 Feb 2005

Safer approach to treating children with cystic fibrosis

Treating chest infections in young cystic fibrosis patients with an antibiotic once instead of three times daily is as effective and less toxic, conclude the results of a randomised trial published in this week’s issue of The Lancet.

10 Feb 2005

People with severe illnesses and disabilities don't wallow in misery and self-pity

The researchers made their surprising finding by having 49 pairs of dialysis patients and healthy people report their mood every few hours for a week, using a handheld personal digital assistant (PDA) such as a Palm. The patients had all been in dialysis for at least three months, visiting a hemodialysis center three or more times a week for hours at a time to have their blood cleaned because their kidneys had failed.

10 Feb 2005

Traditional Indian medicine, herb Salacia oblonga may help treat diabetes

Herbs used in traditional Indian medicine to treat diabetes seems to lower blood sugar and insulin levels in a manner similar to prescription drugs, a new study reports.

8 Feb 2005

Health risks increase in Guyana with leptospirosis

Leptospirosis has become a health concern in Guyana, as the number of cases continues to rise and 43 people were being treated for suspected cases of the bacterial disease, which is usually caused by exposure to water contaminated with the urine of infected animals.

8 Feb 2005

Risks of obesity in children with kidney transplants

Obese children who get kidney transplants tend to be younger, shorter and on dialysis longer than their leaner peers, according to a study in the February issue of the journal Pediatrics.

7 Feb 2005

Prions, previously thought to accumulate mainly in the brain can also infect other organs

Prions, infectious proteins associated with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) or Mad Cow Disease, were previously thought to accumulate mainly in the brain, but Yale and University of Zurich researchers report in Science that other organs can also become infected.

7 Feb 2005

Short girls with underlying disease are not being diagnosed

Twice as many boys as girls are referred to medical specialists for evaluation of short stature or poor growth, according to a new study.

7 Feb 2005

Mitochondria - the energy factories in our cells - can sustain a cancer

University of Glasgow scientists have discovered how mitochondria - the energy factories in our cells - can sustain a cancer, reporting their findings in a new study published in Cancer Cell.

31 Jan 2005

Eleventh Edition of the Report on Carcinogens

The Department of Health and Human Services released its Eleventh Edition of the Report on Carcinogens today, adding seventeen substances to the growing list of cancer-causing agents, bringing the total to 246.

31 Jan 2005

Bioartificial kidney containing billions of donor kidney cells under study at the Medical College of Georgia

Whether a bioartificial kidney containing billions of donor kidney cells will help intensive care patients with kidney failure survive is under study at the Medical College of Georgia.

31 Jan 2005

$Screening for osteoporosis in men and women age 65 and older can prevent a large number of hip fractures$

Screening for osteoporosis in men and women age 65 and older can prevent a large number of hip fractures

Researchers at Johns Hopkins have determined that screening for osteoporosis in men and women age 65 and older can prevent a large number of hip fractures, a debilitating, traumatic experience for 340,000 older adults annually.

31 Jan 2005

Melanopsin plays a key role in the inner workings of the eye

A Brown University team has found that a protein called melanopsin plays a key role in the inner workings of mysterious, spidery cells in the eye called intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells, or ipRGCs.

26 Jan 2005

Trial of Etanercept for Wegners's disease shows no benefit against the autoimmune condition

A Johns Hopkins-led study designed to evaluate the ability of etanercept to maintain disease remissions in a serious autoimmune disorder has failed to show any benefit. Etanercept, also called Enbrel, is a common treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other types of joint inflammation.

26 Jan 2005

Obesity and weight gain are associated with increased risk for developing kidney stones

Kidney stones are a major cause of illness, according to background information in the article. The lifetime prevalence of kidney stones is approximately 10 percent in men and 5 percent in women, and more than $2 billion is spent on treatment each year.

26 Jan 2005

Genzyme files Glucocerebrosidase patent infringement

Genzyme announced today that it has filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Tel Aviv alleging that Transkaryotic Therapies Inc. has infringed Genzyme's Israeli patent No. 100,715, which covers certain cell culture processes involved in the manufacture of glucocerebrosidase.

25 Jan 2005

Vaginal hysterectomies better than abdominal hysterectomies

A review of recent studies concludes that surgeons should perform vaginal rather than abdominal hysterectomies whenever possible in order to cut down on complications and the length of hospital stays.

24 Jan 2005

High blood pressure risk in African-Americans linked to genetics

National health records have shown that African-Americans are more prone to high blood pressure than Caucasians, but pinning down the roots of that difference has proven elusive. Now, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have narrowed down the search for genes that contribute to this difference in disease risk.

24 Jan 2005

1 billion people with high blood pressure by 2025

The proportion of the world’s adult population with high blood pressure is predicted to increase from a quarter to a third by 2025, totalling over one billion, conclude authors of a study published in this week’s issue of The LANCET.

13 Jan 2005

Evaluation of BAY 43-9006 (Sorafenib) for pancreatic cancer

Oncologists from USC/Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center are running tests on a new pancreatic cancer drug that targets the cancer from two directions.

13 Jan 2005