Rydal-Meadowbrook Civic Association

Nearly 20 percent of kidneys that are recovered from deceased donors in the U.S. are refused for transplant due to factors ranging from scarring in small blood vessels of the kidney’s filtering units to the organ going too long without blood or oxygen. But, what if instead of being discarded, these organs could be “recycled” to help solve the critical shortage of donor organs?

Researchers found that the consumption of sugar sweetened soda and punch is associated with a higher risk of kidney stone formation.

Children on dialysis for severe kidney disease have a dramatically reduced risk of death compared to 20 years ago, a new study shows. The findings are very encouraging for children with end-stage kidney disease. These children face a significantly shortened life expectancy, with dialysis as the only life-saving therapy while they await transplant.

In a study that included more than 20,000 patients, there was a significant decrease in the United States in mortality rates over time among children and adolescents initiating end-stage kidney disease treatment with dialysis between 1990 and 2010, according to a new study.

Researchers have discovered a protein that is overly active in every human sample of kidney cancer they examined. They also found that an experimental drug designed to block the protein’s activity significantly reduced tumor growth in animals when used alone. Combining it with another drug already used to treat the cancer improved the effectiveness of both.  

Kidney disease patients who have slower walking speed on physical performance tests seem to be more burdened by their disease than patients who perform well on lower extremity physical performance tests, according to a new study. The findings indicate that measuring lower extremity physical performance may capture a complex set of skeletal muscle and neurologic impairments that develop in CKD patients and substantially affect their survival.

Researchers believe a new health MOT-style program for over-40s is likely to uncover more diabetes, kidney or heart patients than expected.

A new survey shows that support for organ donation is increasing. Eighty-four percent of respondents said they would be very or somewhat likely to consider donating a kidney or a portion of their liver to a close friend or family member, and 49 percent said they would be very or somewhat likely to consider donating a kidney to a stranger.

Researchers may have found a way to block kidney-destroying inflammation and help damaged kidney cells recover. In a related study, they report progress on a non-invasive method to assess how much kidney function has survived a serious bout of inflammation or a chronic problem like high blood pressure.

Researchers have classified kidney cancer into several unique subtypes, a finding that will help physicians tailor treatment to individual patients and that moves cancer care one step closer to personalized medicine.

Kidney failure patients on dialysis derive long-term benefit from the minimally invasive placement of a stent that improves the function of dialysis access grafts, according to 12-month trial results.

Bioengineered rat kidneys successfully produced urine both in a laboratory apparatus and after being transplanted into living animals. The research team built functional replacement kidneys on the structure of donor organs from which living cells had been stripped, an approach previously used to create bioartificial hearts, lungs and livers.

People with apple-shaped bodies tend to have lower kidney function, lower kidney blood flow, and higher blood pressure within the kidneys than people with pear-shaped bodies. The findings may help explain why people with apple-shaped bodies are more likely than those with pear-shaped bodies to develop kidney disease.

New research finds the effects of tobacco smoke on kidney function begin in childhood.

Kidney stones usually make their presence known suddenly, often sending a person to the hospital in excruciating pain. New research identifies an important role zinc plays in the disease process.

Individuals who are overweight starting in early adulthood are twice as likely to have chronic kidney disease at age 60 to 64 years than those who are not overweight. Larger waist-to-hip ratios (“apple-shaped” bodies) during middle age are also linked with chronic kidney disease at age 60 to 64 years.