Drug Tolvaptan gives hope for Brits living with kidney disease

The drug Tolvaptan has been given the green light in the UK as the first-ever treatment for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease. A few months earlier it also received approval in Europe. It's the first ever treatment for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), an incurable genetic condition that can cause heart attacks, stroke and kidney failure. The disease hits 60,000 people in the UK alone, leading to many cysts forming on their kidneys, leading to massive size increases for these vital organs.

The patient takes a tablet twice a day, which slows the rate of cyst development. After getting the go-ahead, it's expected to be available to patients from early 2016. The disease is responsible for one in ten people who end up on dialysis and one in eight who end up having a transplant. Sadly ADPKD is a genetic condition,one out of two children from a parent with ADPKD will have the disease.

You can read more about its approval on News Medical Net and in the UK's Daily Mail

Wales changes the law on organ donors

Wales, part of the United Kingdom, has some autonomy on law making, and today they are implementing a law.

A GREAT law!

From today, in Wales it is now the law that adults will be regarded as organ donors, unless they opt out of organ donation. This is similar to the law in some other countries, but not the rest of the UK. Amazingly, as the UK only has one transplant list, this will help people everywhere in the UK.

In Wales, more than one million people - 34% of the population - have registered to opt in already and only 86,000 have opted out. This is great news as in the past year, 14 people died whilst waiting for a transplant in Wales, while there are currently 224 people on the waiting list, including eight children. The figures for the rest of the UK, of course, are much higher, by more than a factor of ten. To the extent that roughly 3 people die every day in the UK waiting for a transplant.

The change in the law aims to increase the number of donors by 25%. Let's hope it succeeds.

Let's hope the rest of the UK pass the same law. Soon.