A blood test used to determine the health and well-being of dialysis patients produces worryingly inconsistent results depending on which testing method is used, new research reveals.
• Elevated sodium content in the skin correlates closely with left ventricular hypertrophy in patients with chronic kidney disease.
A routine blood test that measures kidney function can be a valuable predictor of short-term outcomes for stroke patients, according to a study led by a neurologist at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
A research team led by Columbia University has discovered that loss of function of the CRKL gene causes kidney and urinary tract defects in people with DiGeorge syndrome, solving a 60-year-old medical mystery.
• A new study found that patients on chronic hemodialysis with depression are frequently not interested in modifying or initiating anti-depressant treatment. Kidney specialists caring for these patients are often unwilling to modify or initiate anti-depressant therapy even when patients are willing to accept recommendations from nurses to do so
• Decreased blood levels of a protein called soluble klothos were linked with an increased likelihood of experiencing kidney function decline in a group elderly well-functioning adults.
Report Details Imbalance between Kidney Disease Research and Health Impact.
Last year, Shirley Polk’s life changed forever. On Friday, it changed again, thanks to a meeting she had with 15 strangers who helped save her life. Last September, the 67-year old, whose liver and kidney suddenly failed after she developed acute autoimmune disease, received a transplant of both organs at Reagan UCLA Medical Center. On Jan. 13, at an event arranged by UCLA, she met 15 of the 59 strangers whose blood donations made possible the transplant surgeries that saved her life. Thanks to her donors’ generosity, Polk was transfused with 32 units of whole blood, 27 units of plasma and 11 units of platelets.
Patients who have chronic kidney disease but are not on dialysis have higher out-of-pocket healthcare expenses than even stroke and cancer patients, according to a study published in BMC Nephrology.
Going strong 50 years after receiving donor kidney transplants
• In a phase 3 trial of patients with chronic kidney disease, 52.1% of patients receiving oral ferric citrate experienced a significant boost in hemoglobin levels (a reflection of red blood cell counts) compared with 19.1% of patients receiving placebo. • A treatment effect was seen as early as 1-2 weeks after the start of treatment, and the response was durable.
Many of our cells are equipped with a hairlike "antenna" that relays information about the external environment to the cell, and scientists have already discovered that the appearance and disappearance of these so-called primary cilia are synchronized with the process of cellular duplication, called mitosis.
Rajnish Mehrotra, MD, FASN, begins his 6-year team as Editor-in-Chief of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN) on January 1, 2017, alongside an incoming editorial team of 17 highly accomplished nephrology researchers.
• Among nursing home residents in the last year of life, patients with kidney failure were far less likely to have advance directives that put limitations on treatments and designated surrogate decision makers compared with other nursing home residents with serious illnesses. • Advance directives with these components were associated with a lower use of intensive interventions at the end of life. • Nearly all kidney failure patients with an advance directive putting limitations on treatment received end-of-life care that was concordant with their preferences.
• Hemodialysis patients tend to have denser blood clots than individuals without kidney disease. • Dense blood clots were linked to an increased risk of premature death from cardiovascular and other causes.
• In a study of children with kidney failure who were followed for a median of 7.1 years, black children had a 36% higher risk of dying than white children. The increase risk was mostly attributed to differences in access to transplantation. • Hispanic children had lower risk of death than white children even though they had lower access to transplantation.
• In a recent study, most women with advanced chronic kidney disease had not received breast or cervical cancer screening in recent years. • Older age, greater comorbidities, and lower income were associated with a lower rate of screening.
• Women with a history of recovered acute kidney injury had an increased rate of preeclampsia and delivered infants earlier than women with a history of normal kidney function.
PHOENIX – How do medical professionals determine whether or not a patient has experienced a post-operative complication? A team of Mayo Clinic physicians and researchers has published results of a three-year study examining mechanisms for measuring and reporting postoperative infection complications. The study analyzed patient admissions between 2012 and 2014 at the four teaching hospitals across Mayo Clinic’s campuses in Arizona, Florida and Minnesota. The results are published online in the Annals of Surgery.
In an effort to bring awareness to the power and benefits of living organ donation, Hasberry, Kuykendall and Kuykendall’s son, Cade, will attempt to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, East Africa, in June 2017.
Using an array of nanoscale sensors, researchers have identified distinct “chemical signatures” in breath samples, for several diseases (including lung cancer, ovarian cancer, Crohn's disease, Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis).
Divyank Saini is one of 17 UAB employees who interpret lab samples to determine whether living - and deceased -donor transplants are possible. But Saini wanted to do more, and he did, becoming a donor in the world’s longest kidney transplant chain.
Elizabeth Hammer, MD, has been appointed director of the Sunset Park, Brooklyn, medical center's dialysis unit. Dr. Hammer, a highly trained nephrologist, will lead the unit's expansion and emphasize patient safety and quality.
To try to better understand how the disease begins and progresses, researchers at the University of Michigan investigated whether kidney biomarkers would signal lupus progression and signs of complications.
• Risks of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are higher in older kidney transplant recipients than in older adults in the general population. • Among kidney transplant recipients, those who developed dementia or Alzheimer’s disease had higher rates of organ loss and patient death than those who did not develop these conditions.
Sometimes treating a chronic disease can be as simple as adding fruits and vegetables to the diet, at least that’s what researchers at the Texas A&M College of Medicine have found.
Mississippi man transplanted at UAB is only the eighth HIV-positive to HIV-positive transplant recipient in the United States since implementation of the HOPE Act.
A study embargoed until Monday, 12/12 shows that a protein biomarker for chronic kidney disease originates in the bone marrow. This discovery of where the suPAR protein originates is an important step towards earlier detection –and possible prevention – of a disease suffered by one in 10 adults, kills 48,000 people and costs Medicare $49 billion each year.
• Investigators reveal that Apol1, a protein implicated in kidney disease, is produced mainly by the liver.
• A healthy diet high in fruits, vegetables, fish, legumes, cereals, whole grains, and fiber, and low in red meat, salt, and refined sugars was linked with a reduced risk of early death in an analysis of 7 studies
Magnets instead of antibiotics could provide a possible new treatment method for blood infection. This involves the blood of patients being mixed with magnetic iron particles, which bind the bacteria to them after which they are removed from the blood using magnets. The initial laboratory tests at Empa in St. Gallen have been successful, and seem promising.
For the two-thirds of kidney stone patients who need more than just extra hydration to pass their stones, physicians are eager to find non-surgical ways to help. Now, a new review of the medical literature suggests alpha blockers may be useful in some cases.
According to an annual data report from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), hospitalization and mortality rates for patients with chronic kidney disease continue to decline in the U.S.
• A simple home-based walking program improved physical capacity and quality of life in patients undergoing long-term dialysis.
Smoking may lead to fibrosis in the heart and kidneys and can worsen existing kidney disease, according to a new study. The research team suggests that exposure to cigarette smoke negatively affects genetic messaging that controls tissue scarring.
Long-term estrogen treatment after menopause may increase the risk of new kidney damage and negatively affect women with abnormal kidney function.
Patients with diabetes and suffering from acute kidney injury (AKI), proteinuria and uncontrolled blood sugar experience a sharp reduction in the number of years they have healthy renal function before being forced onto dialysis, according to researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) College of Medicine.
• New research estimates the projected lives that would be saved if patients at high risk of cardiovascular disease underwent intensive blood pressure lowering. • The findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
The results of numerous high-impact clinical trials that could affect kidney-related medical care will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2016, November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
• The American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the world’s largest organization of kidney health professionals, has elected Eleanor D. Lederer, MD, FASN, as the next ASN President. • Dr. Lederer officially assumes her role as ASN President during the society’s annual meeting, ASN Kidney Week 2016, the largest gathering of kidney care specialists in the world, and will begin her term on January 1, 2017.
• In a study of patients with chronic kidney disease, each additional hour of nighttime sleep was linked with a 19% lower risk of developing kidney failure. • There was also a significant association between sleep quality and kidney failure risk. • Research that uncovered these findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
• Multi-disciplinary care—or coordination of care among different clinicians and specialists—improves the health of patients with kidney disease and reduces costs compared with usual care. • Results from the study will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
• Researchers have developed a key component needed to create a bioartificial kidney. • The advance will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
• A dipstick test for salivary urea nitrogen was accurate for diagnosing kidney disease in adults in Malawi, Africa. • Results of the test also helped predict patients’ risk of early death. • The test will be described at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
• Individuals who took proton pump inhibitors or histamine receptor-2 blockers for heartburn, acid reflux, or ulcers had elevated risks of developing kidney stones. • In individuals without acute kidney injury, proton pump inhibitors were linked with a higher risk of developing chronic kidney disease or kidney failure compared with histamine receptor-2 blockers. • Research that uncovered these findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
The ASN Foundation for Kidney Research (ASN Foundation) is proud to announce the public launch of its Securing the Future Campaign during ASN Kidney Week 2016. This campaign coincides with the 50th anniversary of the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the 20th anniversary of the Career Development Grants Program.
• Amit X. Garg, MD, PhD will be presented with the ASN-AHA Young Investigator Award during ASN Kidney Week 2016, the world’s premier nephrology meeting where more than 13,000 kidney health professionals from around the world will gather in Chicago, IL from November 15–20.
• The Live Donor Champion program increased knowledge of live donation and comfort approaching others about live donation, and it boosted live donor referrals. • The program will be described at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
• Scientists have developed a method to coax human pluripotent stem cells to mature into cells that go on to form the functional units of the kidney. • The team has demonstrated how the method can be used to study human kidney diseases. • The research will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
• In a study of patients with chronic kidney disease, nonsmokers and smokers who successfully quit had slower worsening of their kidney function than those who were unsuccessful at quitting. • Cigarette smoking partially negated the kidney-protective effects of patients’ medications. • Research that uncovered these findings will be presented at ASN Kidney Week 2016 November 15–20 at McCormick Place in Chicago, IL.
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