Dialysis News and Research

Latest Dialysis News and Research

Summit says organ donors should be reimbursed

At an organ donation summit in Perth this week a scheme to reimburse organ donors has been proposed.

18 Aug 2008

Breakthrough drug FT-11 has the potential to end the need for dialysis in kidney disease

Australian scientists say they have developed a drug with the potential to save millions of lives from kidney disease.

18 Aug 2008

Rituximab significantly reduces kidney injury in membranous nephropathy

The drug rituximab causes considerable kidney injury healing in patients with membranous nephropathy, a common form of kidney disease, according to a study appearing in the November 2008 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).

6 Aug 2008

First NY to LA living-donor transplant chain results in three lifesaving kidney transplants at UCLA

The lives of three Los Angeles-area kidney transplant patients were transformed by one of the West Coast's first three-way living donor kidney transplant chains, made possible through the generosity of a non-directed, altruistic kidney donor from New York City -- announced today at a joint news conference.

4 Aug 2008

Statins appear to improve survival in kidney transplant recipients

For patients receiving kidney transplants, treatment with cholesterol-lowering "statin" drugs may lead to longer survival, reports a study in the November 2008 Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).

23 Jul 2008

Heart attack not a death sentence

Survivors of cardiac arrest who received intensive care can expect long-term quality of life at reasonable expense to the health care system.

17 Jul 2008

Turning on hormone tap could aid osteoporosis fight

A potential new drug that 'opens the taps' for the release of useful hormones could stimulate new bone growth - and may eventually bring relief to osteoporosis sufferers.

From The University of Manchester 16 Jul 2008

An automated wearable artificial kidney

Two researchers from UCLA and the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System have developed a design for an automated, wearable artificial kidney, or AWAK, that avoids the complications patients often suffer with traditional dialysis.

10 Jul 2008

Controlling bone disease improves survival of hemodialysis patients

Consistently maintaining certain blood levels of markers of bone metabolism and disease can prolong the lives of patients on hemodialysis, according to a study appearing in the September 2008 issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).

3 Jul 2008

Identity tags can cause life saving medical equipment to malfunction

Dutch scientists are suggesting that radio frequency identification devices (RFIDs) could cause critical care medical equipment to malfunction.

25 Jun 2008

RFID applications in health care may affect medical equipment

The use of radio frequency identification devices appears to have the potential to cause critical care medical equipment to malfunction, according to a study in the June 25 issue of JAMA, the Journal of the American Medical Association.

24 Jun 2008

Death rate linked to comtaminated heparin almost doubles

The drug watchdog in the U.S., the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have updated the number of deaths in patients who took the drug heparin.

17 Jun 2008

Subclinical hypothyroidism common in chronic kidney disease

Many patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) have mild reductions in thyroid function, or subclinical hypothyroidism-a condition that becomes more common as kidney function declines, according to a study in the September 2008 issue of Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

11 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

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

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

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