Posted on

Symptoms of insomnia, sleep apnea associated with increased mortality risk

Loading

Symptoms of insomnia and sleep apnea were associated with a 56% increased risk for all-cause mortality, researchers reported in Sleep Epidemiology.

“Insomnia and obstructive sleep apnea are the two most common sleep disorders, each occurring in 10% to 30% of the general population, but in many patients the conditions can occur at the same time in what we call comorbid insomnia and sleep apnea,” Alexander Sweetman, PhD, co-author and a research fellow at the Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health at Flinders University in Australia, said in a release from the university. Read the full story in Healio.

Loading
Posted on

Increased exposure to green spaces during childhood could improve lung function

Loading

Children with increased exposure to nature during childhood had improved lung function in later life, according to study findings published in European Respiratory Journal.

“We found that living in greener neighborhoods as children grow up is more important for their breathing than living in a green area when they were born,” Diogo Queiroz Almeida, MD,PhD candidate in the department of public health and forensic sciences and medical education at the Institute of Public Health, University of Porto, Portugal, said in a press release. “This may be because babies spend much less time outdoors than children.”
Read more in Healio.

Loading
Posted on

Pediatric Kidney Transplant Rate Lower at For-Profit Dialysis Facilities

Loading

Children receiving maintenance dialysis have lower rates of pediatric transplant waitlisting and kidney transplantation at facilities that are for-profit rather than nonprofit, according to an analysis of data from the US Renal Data System.

Among 13,333 pediatric patients with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) who initiated dialysis during 2000-2018, 3618 (27%) attended for-profit facilities, 7907 (59%) attended nonprofit facilities, and 1748 (13%) switched profit status. Read more in Renal & Urology News.

Loading
Posted on

New therapeutic approach could prevent injury to fragile transplanted lungs

Loading

Northwestern Medicine scientists have discovered a potential therapeutic target in the donor lung that can prevent primary graft dysfunction (PGD) in lung transplant recipients, according to findings published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation (JCI).

GR Scott Budinger, MD, chief of Pulmonary and Critical Care in the Department of Medicine and the Ernest S. Bazley Professor of Airway Diseases, was senior author of the study.
Read more in Medical Xpress.

Loading
Posted on

My brother needed a liver transplant but didn’t have health insurance. My advocacy is what got him on the donor list.

Loading

My brother was diagnosed with primary sclerosing cholangitis — a liver disease — resulting from the autoimmune condition ulcerative colitis in 2016. The condition is incurable and progresses to liver failure without a liver transplant. Fortunately, he was transplanted on July 8, 2018, and has been doing well ever since.

However, the process of getting him a transplant was a challenge, and quite eye-opening. I thought I’d watched enough medical dramas to give me a basic understanding — but, of course, it’s nowhere as simple in real life as it appears on television. Read the full story in Insider.

Loading
Posted on

Vaccination in patients with kidney failure: lessons from COVID-19

Loading

Infection is the second leading cause of death in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Adequate humoral (antibody) and cellular (T cell-driven) immunity are required to minimize pathogen entry and promote pathogen clearance to enable infection control. Vaccination can generate cellular and humoral immunity against specific pathogens and is used to prevent many life-threatening infectious diseases. Read more in Nature Reviews Nephrology.

Loading
Posted on

Should Transplant Recipients Have Pets?

Loading

Alex Harrison-Flaxman is a kidney transplant recipient who understands the rollercoaster of emotions that patients face after transplant.

“Being a transplant recipient is an absolute blessing, but it doesn’t come without its challenges,” says Harrison-Flaxman. “It’s a constant battle to stay vigilant and be on top of your care. But having my dog Bendel makes it a little more bearable when my anxiety is high, and the road ahead seems impossible.” Read more on CareDx.com.

Loading
Posted on

Drop Seen in Transplantation in 2020 With COVID-19 Pandemic

Loading

MONDAY, Aug. 22, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a decrease in transplantation in 2020, according to a study published in the July 1 issue of the American Journal of Surgery.

Alejandro Suarez-Pierre, M.D., from the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, and colleagues examined adult transplantation data as time series data in a population-based cohort study. Read more in Physician’s Weekly.

Loading