“Background: The causal relationship between gout and renal transplant outcomes is difficult to assess due to multiple interacting covariates. This study sought to estimate the independent effect of new-onset gout on renal transplant outcomes using a methodology that accounted for these interactions.”
Read more, here.
“More than 100,000 people are waiting on the kidney transplant list, with some waiting for weeks, months, or even years for the call that could change their life.
That makes what happened at Houston Methodist in October even more extraordinary.
Ten people, including a husband and wife, a boss and her employee, a mother and son, two sisters, and two cousins, took part in a kidney swap. The five pairs were strangers before they walked into the hospital and left with a life-long bond.
Tara and John “HB” Berliski from Magnolia, Texas, have been married for 15 years.
HB started experiencing pain 20 years ago and thought he pulled a muscle. Doctors soon discovered his kidneys were enlarged because of polycystic kidney disease. HB had both kidneys removed, went on dialysis, and waited for a donor.”
Read the full news story, here.
“In 1972, as millions of Americans living with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) struggled to access care, Congress made a commitment to cover the rising costs of their treatment, including kidney transplant. Unfortunately, almost 50 years later, this commitment remains unfulfilled.
Kidney transplant patients must remain on immunosuppressive therapy for life or risk losing their transplant. For nearly two decades, the kidney, transplantation, and donation communities have been advocating to extend immunosuppressive medication coverage for kidney transplant patients beyond Medicare’s current three-year limit.”
Read the full article in POLITICO, here.
To take action and help Finish The Fight, contact your members of congress, here.
“The world-first treatment being developed at The University of Queensland is the only drug of its type that could prevent the incidence of skin cancers for transplant patients.
Lead researcher from UQ’s Diamantina Institute Dr. James Wells said the treatment was shown in models to clear skin tumors that grow as a consequence of taking tacrolimus—a drug that transplant patients must take to suppress their immune systems to avoid organ rejection.”
Read the full article, here.
“The Trump administration has finalized major reforms in the way organs are collected and distributed for transplant, an effort aimed at making thousands more kidneys, livers, hearts and lungs available to the lengthy list of people waiting for them.
The changes, announced Friday evening, are aimed primarily at “organ procurement organizations,” the government-chartered network of 58 nonprofits that collects organs from deceased donors and rushes them to surgeons at transplant centers.”
Read the full article in The Washington Post, here.
“A genetic screening study found a higher-than-expected prevalence of undiagnosed Fabry disease in people who had kidney failure and transplant without a known cause.
When the screening was extended to related family members, additional unidentified cases were found and treated early.
The findings led researchers to recommend genetic screening for kidney transplant patients, particularly those with an unknown cause.”
Read more about the study, here.
“The American Kidney Fund is pleased with the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) scoring of H.R. 5534, the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act of 2020, which estimates the bill will reduce direct federal spending on Medicare benefits for some kidney transplant patients by $400 million over 10 years.
“H.R. 5534 will add a new Medicare coverage option solely to cover immunosuppressive drugs used by kidney transplant patients under age 65. People with transplants must take immunosuppressive drugs or their body will reject the transplanted organ. For people with a kidney transplant, the devastating impact of losing their kidney means they will have to go on dialysis or try to find another kidney-a daunting task with close to 100,000 people on the wait list.”
Read the full statement by AKF, here.
“Transplant is widely considered the preferred modality of renal replacement therapy for patients with irreversible kidney failure.
Transplant is more effective at replacing kidney function than dialysis and provides most patients with a better quality of life, as well as an increased opportunity to participate in the work force.
Despite the advantages offered by transplant, fewer than one in 10 adults with kidney disease receive a kidney and 12 candidates die each day on the waitlist. Policy makers must take aggressive measures to help more patients seek a transplant and increase the number of available kidneys.”
Read the full article, here.
“Brian Pedigo was originally referred to Baptist Memorial Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, for a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), but the 41-year-old’s condition deteriorated rapidly.
He was experiencing intractable ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation and going into cardiogenic shock. With both ventricles in bad shape, his team of cardiologists couldn’t just put in an LVAD. On top of that, Pedigo’s thin frame and the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) to support him in the ICU meant he likely wasn’t a candidate for an FDA-approved total artificial heart.”
Read the full article, here.
“It is a reality for more than 3,000 people in Illinois who are waiting on a donation. CBS 2’s Tara Molina on Thursday night introduced us to one woman whose wait went viral last year – and the donor who stepped in to change her life.
Two lives changed at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center. Toni Barnes Jordan got a second chance at life, while Maranda Proce got a friend for life.
And it was all because of a tweet. One single tweet from Chicago native Chancelor Johnathan Bennett, better known as Chance the Rapper.
“We were sitting on my back deck and he said, ‘I’m going to tweet this right now,’” Jordan said.
That is how it all started.”
Read the full story, here.