Kidney News and Research

RSS

Reducing dietary salt can offer significant health benefits

Reducing salt in the American diet by as little as one-half teaspoon (or three grams) per day could prevent nearly 100,000 heart attacks and 92,000 deaths each year, according to a new study. Such benefits are on par with the benefits from reductions in smoking and could save the United States about $24 billion in healthcare costs, the researchers add.

21 Jan 2010

BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals commences patient treatment in Tavocept Phase III trial

BioNumerik Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced the treatment of the first patients in a global multi-center Phase III clinical trial of Tavocept (BNP7787) in patients with primary adenocarcinoma of the lung, the most common type of lung cancer. In previous studies, Tavocept demonstrated the potential to substantially increase overall and one year patient survival while concurrently preventing and reducing the incidence and severity of common chemotherapy side-effects as compared to other currently available treatments for advanced lung cancer.

21 Jan 2010

Men who buy fake internet drugs for ED problems face significant health risks

Men who buy fake internet drugs for erection problems can face significant risks from potentially hazardous contents and bypassing healthcare systems could leave associated problems like diabetes and high blood pressure undiagnosed.

21 Jan 2010

Gambro acquires CHF Solutions

Gambro and CHF Solutions, Inc. (CHF) announced today that Gambro has acquired CHF, a medical device company that manufactures and distributes ultrafiltration devices to treat fluid overload.

20 Jan 2010

Health Canada approves Novartis' Afinitor to treat patients with mRCC

Novartis Pharmaceuticals Canada Inc. (Novartis) announced today that Afinitor(R) (everolimus), a once-daily oral cancer treatment, has been approved by Health Canada for patients with metastatic renal cell carcinoma (mRCC), also known as advanced kidney cancer, after failure of initial treatment with VEGF-receptor targeted therapies Sutent(R) (sunitinib) or Nexavar(R) (sorafenib).

20 Jan 2010

Scientists study fruit fly to identify key molecular signal in cancer metastasis

Scientists trying to understand how cancer cells invade healthy tissue have used the fruit fly's metamorphosis from maggot to flying insect as a guide to identify a key molecular signal that may be involved in both processes.

20 Jan 2010

Over 44% of internet Viagra is counterfeit

Research by UK, Swedish and American researchers shows that taking internet drugs can kill and bypassing health systems can leave life-threatening problems undiagnosed. It's estimated that 90% of counterfeit drugs are sold on the internet, 44% of internet Viagra is fake, the global sale of counterfeit drugs will reach $75 billion this year and EU seizures have risen dramatically. Counterfeit drug deaths include men who took fake erectile dysfunction drugs, pregnant women injected with fake iron for anaemia and children who took paracetamol syrup contaminated with antifreeze.

20 Jan 2010

Press Ganey Associates and UNOS develop comprehensive transplant survey

Press Ganey Associates today announced it has developed a comprehensive transplant inpatient survey and an outpatient survey for use by transplant programs across the country. The surveys' questions were developed by researchers and practitioners from Press Ganey with insight from the United Network for Organ Sharing's (UNOS) Transplant Administrators Committee (TAC - which consists of elected transplant administrators representing transplant centers, members of UNOS, in the United States).

19 Jan 2010

Movie star attends RSN Renal Teen Prom

For one precious night, movie star Jack Black helped more than 250 teens forget about dialysis and renal disease and enjoy a right of passage most kids take for granted—the prom.

19 Jan 2010

New type of fat-producing cells may speed up treatments for muscular dystrophy and fibrosis

A team of University of British Columbia researchers has identified fat-producing cells that possess "dual-personalities" and may further the development of treatments for muscle diseases such as muscular dystrophy and fibrosis.

19 Jan 2010

MAGIC investigators identify new genetic variants that influence insulin and glucose regulation

An international research consortium has found 13 new genetic variants that influence blood glucose regulation, insulin resistance, and the function of insulin-secreting beta cells in populations of European descent. Five of the newly discovered variants increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes.

18 Jan 2010

CKD patients do not receive adequate end-of-life care

Patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD) often do not receive adequate end-of-life care and are unhappy with the medical decisions made as their conditions worsen, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). The findings indicate that end-of-life care should be improved to meet the needs of CKD patients.

18 Jan 2010

Dartmouth researchers to develop and market a drug throughout Asia for treatment of CKD

Thanks in part to more than a decade of preclinical work by Dartmouth researchers, a Japanese biopharmaceutical firm is preparing to develop and market throughout Asia a drug for the treatment of chronic kidney disease (CKD).

18 Jan 2010

More research needed to determine kidney and renal artery abnormalities, says study

Abnormalities in the kidneys and their blood vessels occur in at least 25% of healthy individuals, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN). While most of these conditions are not harmful enough to prevent someone from donating a kidney, future studies are needed to determine their impact on long-term health.

18 Jan 2010

Scientists discover new links between inherited blindness and AHI1 gene

An international team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have discovered new links between a common form of inherited blindness affecting children and a gene known as Abelson helper integration site-1 (AHI1).

18 Jan 2010

PositiveID Corporation to add complementary non-invasive glucose-level testing technologies to Healthid division

PositiveID Corporation announced today that it plans to expand its HealthID division by adding products and tools for the daily management of diabetes. In addition to the continued development of its in vivo glucose-sensing RFID microchip to detect glucose levels in the human body, the Company is planning to broaden its technology platform by adding complementary non-invasive glucose-level testing technologies.

13 Jan 2010

Obesity could lead to renal cell cancer: BJUI

Being obese could lead to a greater risk of developing the most common form of renal cell cancer, according to research in the January issue of the UK-based urology journal BJUI.

13 Jan 2010

NIH awards 12 research grants totaling $5 million for Tβ4 research

REGENERX BIOPHARMACEUTICALS, INC. announced today that National Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded 12 research grants totaling over $5,000,000 for the study of Tβ4 in 2009/2010. Many of these grants will be going to collaborators with whom RegeneRx is working to understand its numerous biological activities and capabilities in medical indications, including the role of Tβ4 as an anti-inflammatory agent in tissue regeneration and its promotion of stem cell maturation.

13 Jan 2010

Obese patients at greater risk of developing renal cell cancer

Being obese could lead to a greater risk of developing the most common form of renal cell cancer, according to research in the January issue of the UK-based urology journal BJUI.

12 Jan 2010

Lead even below level "of concern" for children may impair kidney function

Small amounts of lead in the bodies of healthy children and teens — amounts well below the levels defined as "concerning" by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) — may worsen kidney function, according to a Johns Hopkins Children's Center study published in the Jan. 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine.

12 Jan 2010