Kidney News and Research

RSS

Dialysis patients may be overmedicated

Changes in a widely used assay (blood test) for parathyroid hormone (PTH) have made its use with the established guidelines for end stage renal disease clinical management both inappropriate and potentially harmful to patients. This research is published in the journal Seminars in Dialysis.

5 Dec 2005

Drinking lots of coffee and tea can reduce the risk of chronic liver disease

A study published in the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) journal Gastroenterology found that people at high risk for liver injury may be able to reduce their risk for developing chronic liver disease significantly by drinking more than two cups of coffee or tea daily.

2 Dec 2005

Mycophenolate mofetil helps treat lupus patients

Treating lupus patients suffering from kidney inflammation with a medicine known as mycophenolate mofetil may be more effective in inducing remission than treating them with the standard regimen of intravenous cyclophosphamide (Cytoxan), a new clinical trial indicates.

2 Dec 2005

Researchers identify a gene affecting blood pressure

Research published by University of Leicester researchers in the top journal "Circulation" identifies a gene that affects blood pressure levels in the general population.

30 Nov 2005

Lifestyle modification should be the first line of treatment for obesity

A new study shows that treatment with a lifestyle modification program of diet, exercise and behavioral therapy when used in combination with the weight loss medication sibutramine (Meridia) resulted in significantly greater weight loss among obese adults than treatment with the medication alone.

28 Nov 2005

New findings in patients with pediatric kidney failure

Two studies just released by physicians at Texas Children's Hospital are addressing new findings in patients with pediatric kidney failure, and on the growing prevalence of high blood pressure in children.

28 Nov 2005

Fullerenes can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation

Using transparent zebrafish embryos, researchers at Jefferson Medical College have shown that a microscopic nanoparticle can help fend off damage to normal tissue from radiation.

28 Nov 2005

Kidney disease may be a more important risk factor for heart disease than is cholesterol

Jefferson researchers have found that mice with low levels of the protein hormone adiponectin may also have high levels of a protein called albumin which, in humans, may be a sign of kidney disease.

28 Nov 2005

Age alone influences risks for people in their eighties after heart surgery

Patients aged 80 and older have a higher risk of death and disease than younger patients after undergoing coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery or valve surgery, and age alone influences these outcomes, according to a study in the November issue of Archives of Surgery.

26 Nov 2005

Thrombospondin (TSP-1) can cause kidney failure when normal blood flow is disrupted

Scientists led by a University of Cincinnati (UC) kidney expert have found that a naturally occurring protein that normally fights cancer cells can also cause severe kidney failure when normal blood flow is disrupted.

26 Nov 2005

High blood pressure research advances efforts to tailor drugs to individual patients

Having high blood pressure and a particular genetic alteration dramatically increases the risk of heart attack, stroke or death, and may explain why some hypertensive patients fare worse than others - even if they take the same medication, University of Florida researchers announced.

26 Nov 2005

New drug CellCept far more effective in treating kidney problems in lupus patients

A new study has shown that the drug CellCept is just as good at fighting kidney complications from the debilitating disease lupus with far fewer side effects than standard treatment using the cancer drug Cytoxan.

24 Nov 2005

Valproic acid (Depakote) may help treat lupus

A common anti-seizure drug may be effective against certain conditions associated with lupus, according to animal research at Wake Forest University School of Medicine.

20 Nov 2005

Double the weight-loss when counseling is combined with diet drugs

According to a new study, obese patients who took the diet drug Meridia and received intensive weight-loss counseling, lost twice as much weight as patients who only took the drug.

20 Nov 2005

Six gene variants predict heart muscle damage after cardiac surgery

Duke University Medical Center researchers have found that patients with six specific variants of genes involved in the body's immune response are significantly more likely to suffer damage of heart tissue after cardiac surgery.

16 Nov 2005

World first trial grows blood vessels from patient's own skin

A team of American scientists have successfully implanted blood vessels grown entirely from a patient's own cells.

16 Nov 2005

Lack of aggressive treatment for clogged leg blood vessels means missed heart attack prevention opportunity

Despite the fact that clogged arteries in the legs usually mean clogged arteries near the heart, doctors often fail to give heart-protecting drugs to people with severe leg blood vessel blockages, a new University of Michigan-led study finds.

15 Nov 2005

Edifoligide no better than placebo for clogged veins

A new drug, edifoligide, designed to prevent the clogging of veins used in coronary bypass surgery was no more effective than a placebo, according to the results of a Phase III clinical trial led by researchers at Duke Clinical Research Institute (DCRI).

14 Nov 2005

Bright light therapy may aid patients with depressive and bipolar disorders

A report in the November Cell Metabolism reveals powerful effects of light on the adrenal glands, a finding that might explain the broad benefits of bright light therapy for a variety of conditions, including sleep and depressive disorders, according to researchers.

14 Nov 2005

Public health service to fund live liver transplants

An announcement that new organ transplant technology will now allow adult patients to receive liver transplants from a living relative for the first time on the NHS, marks a new era in public health services.

8 Nov 2005