Kidney Disease Awareness Grows

It must be good news for many to hear this, especially given that we had World Kidney Day last week!

Organisations like the National Kidney Foundation do their best to raise awareness, and the continual stream of advice, along with advances in treating diabetes (one of THE major causes of kidney disease) and high blood pressure treatments seem to be getting through. Does it do any good? Well the American government reported in the latest figures availabble that there were fewer new cases of people going on to dialysis in 2011 compared to 2010. And over the previous two years the number of new cases held steady. LINK

This sort of news doesn't hit the headlines of newspapers, but for kidney disease sufferers, it is very welcome. Two factors were highlighted as being responsible - greater awareness and better treatment of the leading causes. Now if only they can get more transplants.

Cooking methods may reduce phosphorus content in some foods

Dialysis patients have to control their phosphorus intake and phosphorus levels. The kidneys normally excrete excess phosphorus into the urine; however, kidney disease can prevent the body from getting rid of any buildup of phosphorus and that can cause problems for the bones and heart. And unfortunately hemodialysis removes only a small amount of phosphorus from the blood, hence the need for phosphorus binders while on dialysis. Recent research published in the Journal of Renal Nutrition suggests that boiling in water or stewing in oil can reduce the phosphorus content of some foods.

The results vary for different foods stuffs, this is not a universal panacea but it does help a lot with some foods. However the calcium levels increased when boiling in water when using hard water

Most of the thermal processing methods did not significantly reduce protein content. Boiling increased calcium content in all foodstuffs because of calcium absorption from the hard water. In contrast, stewing in oil containing a small amount of water decreased the calcium content of vegetables by 8% to 35% and of chicken meat by 12% to 40% on a dry weight basis. Some types of thermal processing significantly reduced the phosphorus content of the various foodstuffs, with levels decreasing by 27% to 43% for fresh and frozen vegetables, 10% to 49% for meat, 7% for pasta, and 22.8% for rice on a dry weight basis. On the basis of these results, we modified the thermal processing methods used to prepare a standard hospital menu for dialysis patients. Foodstuffs prepared according to the optimized menu were similar in protein content, higher in calcium, and significantly lower in phosphorus than foodstuffs prepared according to the standard menu.

If you examine the references section in the link to the journal article (above) you will find links to several other studies on how different cooking methods for your food can be of benefit to dialysis patients.

Study gives HIV-positive kidney transplants the thumbs up

Life is bad enough if you are HIV-positive, but what if you have kidney failure as well? What are your chances after a transplant? And can an HIV-positive donor help?

HIV-positive people with kidney failure who get a donated kidney from another person with HIV/AIDS fare as well as patients who get one from an uninfected donor, according to a South African study published on Thursday in the New England Journal of Medicine. This is an important piece of research because it opens up a new group of desperately needed kidney donors for HIV/AIDS patients, who are especially vulnerable to renal failure, said the study’s lead author, Elmi Muller, who pioneered such "positive to positive" renal transplants in 2008. Especially since between a quarter and a fifth of HIV-positive patients who do not receive timely treatment get chronic kidney disease now have some hope.

The HIV-positive patients had comparable survival rates to patients who had received kidneys from donors who were HIV-negative. The survival rate among the patients was 84% after one year, 84% after three years, and 74% after five years. And remember, a kidney transplant can save more than one life, as the recipient frees up a dialysis machine for someone else.

For more details see here

Family shares kidneys

Recently on a BBC morning program that I watched while off due to being ill for three weeks, there was a family with a bit of a kidney disease problem.

All three children had a heredity kidney problem. Their middle child, the younger daughter, was the first to have a serious problem and a transplant was required. Up steps the Mum, a perfect match, and she donates one of her kidneys. Some time later the youngest, their only son, also had his kidney problems increase until he too needed a transplant. Up steps Dad, a perfect match for the son. And another transplant takes place. During their interview, eyes gradually drifted towards the eldest daughter. So the interviewer asked the obvious question - what how are your kidneys? Luckily they were not as bad as either of her siblings. However she did look a trifle worried as she couldn't get a kidney from either parent now, and would have to take her chances on the open market, so to speak. Let's hope that she doesn't reach the transplant stage!

Testing Begins on Wearable Kidney Machine

One of the commonest themes that pops up in news reports is work on portable / wearable dialysis machines. And now the University of Washington has the go-ahead for the first human safety trial of a portable, wearable kidney dialysis machine. (Known as Wearable Artificial Kidney, WAK.)

The device, in development for more than 10 years, cannot be marketed until it is evaluated for safety and fully tested, said the UW.

The device being tested is a prototype and developers expect that updated versions will be streamlined and lighter. It can be worn like a tool-belt. It runs continuously on batteries.

Dr. Victor Gura, a physician specializing in internal medicine and kidney disease, created the initial prototypes for the WAK in his clinic in Beverly Hills, Calif. He completed the prototypes in a lab at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. His original team included the late Austrian physicist and equipment safety standards developer Hans Dietrich Polachegg, as well as bioengineer Masoud Beizai, and physician and medical device researcher Carlos Ezon, both of whom live in Los Angeles. Gura is clinical associate professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Read more at the University's own news site