Kidney News and Research

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Many young children short on vitamin D

A new study by researchers in the United States has found that many young children are lacking in vitamin D.

4 Jun 2008

Kidney cell suicide in diabetes patients

Diabetes is the leading cause of renal failure that requires dialysis. The disease generates such a hostile environment that it forces the kidney cells to kill themselves, progressively reducing the renal functions of the kidneys.

4 Jun 2008

Finance Committee staffers meet with stakeholders about Medicare physician cuts

Democratic staffers for the Senate Finance Committee on Monday met with physician specialty groups to discuss a legislative package proposed by committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) that would halt a scheduled 10.6% cut to Medicare physicians' payments and institute a 0.5% increase in the payments for next year, CongressDaily reports.

3 Jun 2008

NGAL protein levels in simple urine test speed diagnosis of failing kidneys

Walk into any emergency department complaining of chest pain and you are likely to have blood drawn. Within hours it should be clear whether you've had a heart attack, based on enzyme levels in your blood and whether those levels reveal the tissue damage normally associated with a heart attack or other major cardiac event.

2 Jun 2008

Mouse ovaries and testes age in unique ways

Aging leads to large changes in gene activity in the ovaries of mice, but only limited changes in testes, according to research published in the open-access journal, BMC Biology.

2 Jun 2008

New approach to treating vision loss caused by type 1 Usher syndrome

A new approach to treating vision loss caused by type 1 Usher syndrome (USH1), the most common condition affecting both sight and hearing, will be unveiled by a scientist at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics tomorrow (Tuesday 3 June).

2 Jun 2008

New model predicts whether patients will be free of renal cancer 12 years after initial treatment

A UT Southwestern Medical Center physician and other researchers have developed a unique statistical model that predicts the probability of a patient being cancer free 12 years after initial surgical treatment.

2 Jun 2008

DialysisPPO files provisional patent for dialysis cost containment

DialysisPPO, a Pennsylvania Corporation providing cost containment solutions to the health plan market, has filed a provisional patent application with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) covering its business method that enables health plans to significantly lower their exposure to the high cost of dialysis services while simultaneously improving the benefits to plan participants.

2 Jun 2008

Anti-rejection drug sirolimus may prolong organ life in noncompliant kidney transplant patients

New research from the University of California, San Diego Department of Medicine, Division of Nephrology, shows that the anti-rejection drug sirolimus (brand name Rapamune) may help prolong the clinical benefit of transplanted kidneys and delay rejection, especially in patients who do not regularly take their prescribed medications (are "non-compliant"). While the transplant field has been highly successful at reducing rejection and graft loss in the first year, post-transplant, reducing risk for graft rejection in the long-term has proved more difficult.

2 Jun 2008

More aggressive hospital care does not lead to improved patient outcomes in all cases, study finds

More aggressive hospital care -- such as higher numbers of tests and procedures and longer stays -- does not lead to improved patient outcomes in all cases, according to a study released on Thursday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

30 May 2008

Spontaneous mutations widespread in non-familial schizophrenia

People with schizophrenia from families with no history of the illness were found to harbor eight times more spontaneous mutations - most in pathways affecting brain development - than healthy controls, in a study supported in part the National Institutes of Health?s (NIH) National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). By contrast, no spontaneous mutations were found in people with schizophrenia who had family histories of the illness.

30 May 2008

Gum disease an indicator of increased cancer risk

British scientists say gum disease, both in smokers and non-smokers, may be a warning sign of an increased risk of cancer.

27 May 2008

Thousands with type 2 diabetes at risk bacause they do not take their drugs

According to Diabetes UK, in excess of 650,000 people with obesity-related diabetes do not take their drugs and the charity says they are putting themselves at risk of developing serious health problems such as stroke and blindness.

27 May 2008

Good news for diabetics

A study has found that a short course of intensive insulin treatment may delay the progression of the disease in people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes

25 May 2008

Anti-rejection drug sirolimus may increase risk of diabetes after kidney transplant

For patients undergoing kidney transplantation, treatment with the anti-rejection drug sirolimus may lead to an increased risk of diabetes, reports a study in the July Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

22 May 2008

Reducing blockage fails to improve access to the bloodstream for kidney dialysis

Reducing early blockages in bloodstream access for kidney failure treatment does not increase the likelihood that the access will function adequately for long-term treatments, according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Results were published May 14, 2008, in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

22 May 2008

Dendrimers improve imaging with magnetic nanoparticles

Dendrimers are spherical polymer nanoparticles that have shown promise as targeted anticancer drug delivery vehicles. Iron oxide nanoparticles have already demonstrated the ability to image tumors and metastatic lesions.

20 May 2008

Cancer drug shows promise as treatment for pulmonary hypertension

A drug developed to fight cancer is showing early promise as a treatment for pulmonary hypertension, researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center report May 19 at the American Thoracic Society International Conference in Toronto, Canada.

19 May 2008

Thiazide-type diuretic shown to be best first-choice drug for hypertensive patients

A study based at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston provides added justification that a thiazide-type diuretic is the best first-choice drug for hypertensive patients. The findings, published in the American Heart Association's Circulation, Volume 117, Issue 20, evaluate the results of a previous trial coordinated by researchers at The University of Texas School of Public Health, along with other recent studies.

19 May 2008

Erection problems may signal serious heart disease

Erectile dysfunction is always a matter of the heart, but new research shows that more than romance is at stake. Two new studies of men with type 2 diabetes found that erectile dysfunction (ED) was a powerful early warning sign for serious heart disease, including heart attack and death.

19 May 2008