Friday, April 29, 2011

New Data on Investigational Agent Belatacept in Kidney Transplant Recipients to be Presented at 2011 American Transplant Congress

PRINCETON, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--New data on belatacept, an investigational selective T cell costimulation blocker being studied for use in renal transplantation by Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (NYSE:BMY), will be presented at the American Transplant Congress April 30 – May 4, 2011 in Philadelphia. In total, 21 abstracts from company-sponsored studies will be presented during the congress, including seven oral presentations related to kidney transplantation. The data being presented highlights the broad clinical program for belatacept, a key compound supporting Bristol-Myers Squibb’s strategy to discover and develop targeted therapies for serious diseases.

    Key data being presented include:

  • Three-Year Outcomes from BENEFIT: A Phase III Study of Belatacept vs. Cyclosporine in Kidney Transplant Recipients
  • 3-Year Safety Profile of Belatacept in Kidney Transplant Recipients from the BENEFIT and BENEFIT-EXT Studies
  • Renal Function at 2 Years in Kidney Transplant Recipients Switched from Cyclosporine or Tacrolimus to Belatacept: Results from the Long-Term Extension of a Phase II Study
    Three year Outcomes by Donor Type in Phase III Studies of Belatacept vs. Cyclosporine in Kidney Transplantation (BENEFIT & BENEFIT-EXT)

“Transplant patients often face multiple medical challenges following surgery” said Brian Daniels, M.D., senior vice president, Global Development and Medical Affairs, Bristol-Myers Squibb. “The breadth of Bristol-Myers Squibb’s clinical data on belatacept at the American Transplant Congress demonstrates our ongoing commitment to address the unmet medical needs of patients in the renal transplant community."

For the full schedule of clinical presentations at the American Transplant Congress click here.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Thursday, April 28, 2011

CF patient runs London Marathon with new lungs

Bognor Regis Observer, U.K.

These stories of organ transplant survivors who can now accomplish goals they could only dream about before their "gift of life" continue to amaze me. Running a 26 mile marathon is a grueling test of motivation, endurance and will. (I know...having run and finished 7 marathons prior to my lung transplant). Congratulations go to Louisa Winslade for her achievement.


“It makes me proud that I completed the race. I did it for all cystic fibrosis patients and all transplant patients.

“Ten years ago, I had just started using oxygen and eight years ago I was in a wheelchair, on oxygen 24/7 and couldn’t even walk out of the front door to the car.”

Bognor Regis Observer
Marathon runner Louisa Winslade has become a world-beater from Bognor Regis.

Louisa has become the first known double lung transplant survivor to finish the London Marathon.

She completed the gruelling 26.2-mile course around the capital in 6hr, 33min and 45sec in spite of having cystic fibrosis.

She said: “I felt relief when I crossed the finishing line. At first, I couldn’t believe I had done it.

“It doesn’t even seem real now that I have finished the marathon.

“My medal is in my hand and my bruises are on my feet and it was definitely worth it.

“It makes me proud that I completed the race. I did it for all cystic fibrosis patients and all transplant patients.

“Ten years ago, I had just started using oxygen and eight years ago I was in a wheelchair, on oxygen 24/7 and couldn’t even walk out of the front door to the car.”

Louisa’s achievement in Sunday saw her finish 33,354th out of some 36,500 starters. It has also enabled her to raise more than £3,000 for the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

The potentially-fatal lung condition leads to insulin-dependent diabetes to cause a further complication for those seeking to run long distances.

But Louisa, 26, of Chichester Road, began training for the big race 18 months ago. She stepped up her efforts last August after she had returned from a long stay in Australia.

This enabled her to jog about two-thirds of the way around the marathon course and walk the rest of the distance.

“The adrenaline kept me going and the support of the crowd and the other runners,” bank customer adviser Louisa said.

“I also had messages from my brothers and my mother while I was running because I hit the wall three or four times.”

She needed some treatment after the race because of her injuries, but overtook many others who had been forced to abandon their marathon dreams on the course.

This year marks the fifth anniversary of Louisa’s transplant. Her condition deteriorated in the early years of this century before a suitable set of lungs became available.

She has no idea about the donor’s identity but the operation at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge gave her the chance to experience life to the full.

She has never looked back in spite of taking a cocktail of more than

50 drugs to stop her body rejecting the lungs and keep her cystic fibrosis at bay.

Louisa entered the marathon with her work colleague, Kelly Davies, 31, from Emsworth.

Injury problems blighted Kelly’s entry and she completed the race in 6hr 38min.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Judge's fury after he frees convict to have heart transplant - but doctors refuse because she won't quit smoking

This is a sad case for sure. There are more than 3,000 people waiting for a life-saving heart transplant in the U.S. and so far only 186 transplants have been done this year. Is this a case of smoking addiction being so strong that it's more powerful than the will to live? Or, is it just that the individual involved doesn't comprehend that her life is at risk? Regardless, there are many deserving potential recipients out there who would cherish the donation of a new heart and not dishonor the donor and his or her family.

Dailymail.co.uk.
A judge who freed a criminal for a life-saving transplant has reacted with fury after finding out the 48-year-old woman hasn't been allowed a new heart because she won't stop smoking.

Judge Francis Ricigliano berated Diane McCloud in the Long Island court - but gave her until June 10 to ditch the bad habit.

McCloud, from Hempstead, admitted that she is still puffing away on four cigarettes a day.

In January, McCloud's lawyer Leonard Isaacs had argued that his client was facing 'a death sentence' if she was sent to prison for stealing merchandise from a Target store.

At the original trial, McCloud was brought to court by ambulance and wheeled in on a hospital bed with an IV attached.

Mr Isaacs said a cardiologist at Nassau University Medical Centre had confirmed that McCloud would be dead within six months if she was denied the transplant.

The lawyer said: 'She knew she had a heart problem however it was just in the last week that it seemed to exacerbate.'

He asked if McCloud could be released for a transplant screening to which the judge agreed, calling it a case of 'compassion'.

Judge Ricigliano cut short McCloud's 15-month sentence at the Nassau County Correctional Centre.

At the time of her release, McCloud's sister said: 'She got a loving family. She got the support that she need.'

The 48-year-old had been entering the seventh month of a 15-month sentence for stealing $2,347 of goods from the Westbury store in December 2009, and $1,558 worth of items the following month.

She was charged with two counts of fourth-degree grand larceny, both felonies, but pleaded guilty to two lesser counts of petty larceny and was sentenced to consecutive terms of 12 months and three months.

McCloud's doctor had recently got in touch with the judge's office to say that McCloud had refused to stop smoking and missed several appointments and drug tests.

At the hearing, Judge Ricigliano told the woman: 'I will re-sentence you to the maximum amount of jail, without any problem.'

Mr Isaacs said the judge and prosecutors had been fair on McCloud.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

High-fat diet may help reverse kidney damage


After reading this I went online to refresh my understanding of the kidney disease of diabetes. Before anyone starts thinking about changing their diet based on the following report I suggest they check out the above link..

thenewstribune.com
LOS ANGELES – A high-fat “ketogenic” diet may reverse the kidney damage caused by diabetes, a study published online last week by the journal PLoS One reports.

Past research has shown that lowering blood sugar through diet can prevent kidney failure but not reverse it in patients with diabetes. Lead author Charles Mobbs, a neuroscientist at the Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York City, said that this study – in which mice were fed a high-fat diet of 5 percent carbohydrate, 8 percent protein and a whopping 87 percent fat – was the first to show that dietary intervention alone is enough to reverse kidney failure caused by diabetes.

That’s hopeful news, but there’s a serious problem: Following a ketogenic diet is brutal. A November 2010 article in the New York Times Magazine detailed one family’s experience putting their young son on the diet to treat his epilepsy. The boy isn’t allowed to eat such staples of childhood as cookies or macaroni and cheese. His mother has to weigh every morsel that passes his lips. At the time the article was published, he had been on the diet for almost two years.

“We figure that in an average week, Sam consumes a quart and a third of heavy cream, nearly a stick and a half of butter, 13 teaspoons of coconut oil, 20 slices of bacon and 9 eggs,” wrote the boy’s father, journalist Fred Vogelstein, who noted that the ketogenic diet is “only for the desperate.”

Mobbs and his co-authors admit that the ketogenic diet “is probably too extreme for chronic use in adult patients.” But they suggest as well that “it is plausible that only transient exposure to the diet will ... in effect “reset” the pathological process.” Or, they write, “it is possible that a pharmacological intervention that mimcs these effects might be sufficient to reverse pathology.”

Let’s hope. Nice as it sounds (in theory) to chow down daily on butter and cream, it’s not something most of us would want to do for any extended period of time.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Monday, April 25, 2011

Jazz singer Alex Pangman still recording after double lung transplant

I've had had the great pleasure of meeting Alex Pangman and watching her perform magical renditions of some of the most popular jazz standards from the past. Suffering from cystic fibrosis all her life, Alex has made a remarkable transformation since her double-lung transplant in the fall of 2008 and she is an inspiration to all.


Alex Pangman and her Alleycats

By Robert Everett Green The Globe and Mail
Singers know a lot about breathing and breath control. For Alex Pangman, those things have been a lifetime preoccupation – and not just when she’s in a club or recording studio.

Pangman has just released 33, a good new album of sophisticated, mostly little-known songs from 1933 (on Montreal’s Justin Time Records). It’s a fairly happy collection, and you start to understand why when you learn that the 34-year-old singer recorded the whole thing (last year when she was 33) on a pair of transplanted lungs.

She has cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease that clogs the lungs and digestive system with a thick mucus. She had recorded four CDs (and one 78) and was down to about 25 per cent lung function when a set of donated organs became available in 2008.

“I couldn’t even stand up in high heels, I had to sit down to sing,” she says, recalling her last gig before the hospital called. “Walking upstairs was like climbing a mountain.” She needed an oxygen tank for that hike, or to take a shower, or to ride her horse. She rode right up to the day before the operation, with a tank strapped to the saddle.

Her last request to the surgical team before the transplant began was that they go easy with the intubation tubes they were about to push down her throat. Those can be rough on the vocal cords, she says, though she escaped without noticeable damage after having the tubes in for 36 hours – “a very short time,” she says, knowing how much worse it could have been.

A good singer’s always a good storyteller, and from her perch in a vintage café on Toronto’s west side, Pangman tells her medical saga with the same kind of thoughtful energy that goes into her comments about the music she loves. The surgery is old news for her, but its results are still a miracle that renews itself each time she takes a breath or sings with a kind of nuance she couldn’t manage before.

“I can actually sing what I feel, instead of just what my lungs would let me do,” she says, with wonder. “I can sing longer phrases, I can make all the expressions I want – breathy sounds, quiet sounds. If I tried to do a breathy sound before, I might start coughing.”

Before the surgery, she became expert at doing much with little. She recorded a Christmas album with only 35 per cent lung function. She’s good with those percentages, because even now she undergoes weekly lung tests.

She’s very conscious of the fact that if she had actually lived during her favourite decade in music – the 1930s – she would never have gotten this far. Even 50 years ago, people with CF usually died before reaching kindergarten age; now, only half make it past 40.

Her new lungs won’t clog up like the old ones, because they don’t carry the gene that causes CF. The catch is that for the rest of her life, she’ll have to take powerful immunosuppressive drugs that prevent her body from rejecting the foreign organs, but that also dampen her resistance to illness.

There are amateur singers in her family, and equestrians too, and her parents bought her a pony early on to keep her active and help clear her lungs. She was singing a country song at a karaoke barn dance near the stables (north of Mississauga, where she grew up) when another rider suggested he sing with his band at a schnitzel house.

“I fell in with a great group of guys who mentored me,” she says, one of those guys being the late Jeff Healey, who produced her first album, They Say…(Another mentor, Colonel Tom Parker of the retro-bluegrass band the Backstabbers, married her in 2006). They introduced her to big-band singers such as Helen Forrest and Mildred Bailey, and to the joys of listening to old 78s.

“I felt like I had just discovered a great dinosaur bone,” she says. “It was like a beautiful time capsule, that’s also very real and present, and speaking of the human condition.”

Unlike many jazz singers, she feels no urge to update old songs like Honeysuckle Rose, the only standard on her 33 album. The original presentation of the songs is not just a starting point, but an ideal.

“I’m attracted to the melodies and lyrics from that era, and to the sensibility and the feel of the musicians, just the way they played,” she says. “Something about it recommends itself to me in a way I can’t really put into words.”

No matter; 33 makes her case with finesse and eloquence. Her one original tune, a ballad called As Lovely Lovers Do, shows how deeply she has absorbed the sensibility of her chosen era. Her singing, too, reflects the style of that period: her tone is light and buoyant, her line is studded with little turns, and she often glides up to the peak of a phrase from somewhere below the “correct” pitch.

She’ll go on the road this summer, touring from Victoria to St. John’s. She won’t push it hard – she’s happy to be able to take a breather every few days. Make that every day.

Merv's note:
Listen to clips or get your copy of Alex's new CD at the Justin Time Records web-site.
Please follow Alex on Twitter http://twitter.com/AlexPangman
Drop in and say 'hi' on facebook
Visit Alex's web site: www.alexpangman.com 

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Largest Organ & Tissue Donation Event in US Saturday April 30th - 7 am - Cal State Fullerton

Donate Life California has impressed me over the years with their outstanding initiatives to increase the rate of organ and tissue donation. Further to their implementation of an on-line donor registry in 2004, 8,185,109 people have signed up to be a donor. (As of Apr. 22, 2011, 10:06am PT)

For this event I'm posting the full press release for the benefit of all, including the media.

LARGEST ORGAN and TISSUE DONATION EVENT in U.S.

NINTH ANNUAL DONATE LIFE RUN/WALK & FAMILY FESTIVAL 7:00 AM, SAT., APRIL 30, CAL STATE FULLERTON

More than 9,000 Southlanders Join to Inspire Organ, Tissue, Eye Donation

What: More than 9,000 Southlanders, supported by area businesses and transplant centers, join together at the Donate Life Run/Walk & Family Festival, the largest Donate Life-themed community event in the nation, to inspire Californians to be organ and tissue donors. The event caps April’s National Donate Life Month with a morning program featuring 19 Orange County mayors, city council members and civic leaders walking with constituent families, a 75-vendor family festival, and health screenings. The opening ceremony includes emotional tributes and a dramatic release of doves by donor family members and transplant recipients. Performing onstage will be American Idol season nine finalists Katie Stevens and Tim Urban and Grammy award-winning pop/R&B group All-4-One, who created a song inspired in part by the founders of the Donate Life Run/Walk Kathleen and Craig Hostert. Proceeds from the event will support Donate Life California Organ & Tissue Donor Registry enrollment campaigns.
    When: Sat., April 30, 2011, 7:00 am – Registration opens
  • 8:15 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. - Opening ceremony with keynote speakers and lighting of Flame of Life
  • 9:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. - Run/Walk
  • 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. – Family Health Festival

Who: Keynote speakers include Ann Lopez, kidney donor to her husband, comedian George Lopez; Max Zapata, Clovis, a good Samaritan living kidney donor who kicked off a 10-person kidney chain in 2009 that was featured on CBS; Craig Hostert, event co-founder and kidney recipient (from his wife, Kathleen); A. Thomas Bender, San Juan Capistrano, kidney recipient (from his daughter, Cindee) and chairman of the board of Cooper Companies; Mayor Don Bankhead, Fullerton; and Roger Weninger, Managing Partner, Moss Adams, LLP, presenting sponsor; and special guest Phillip Palmer, ABC7 and living kidney donor.

Hundreds of teams with some 4,000 participants – each wearing a t-shirt and button featuring photos of loved ones who gave life in their passing – organized by family members of organ and tissue donors, as well as teams celebrating transplant recipients, transplant candidates and supporting business entities, including:
  • Celebrating Scott Davis (Huntington Beach) – Nearly 200 people honor 19-year-old Scott, who donated five organs and tissue after a fatal skateboarding accident;
  • ·
  • Team Vons – 333 employees representing four local districts of Vons supermarkets in memory of store manager Keith Walton, who became an organ donor after suffering a fatal stroke;
  • ·
  • In Honor of Conor (Sherman Oaks) – Honors 16-year-old Conor Lloyd Lynch, who died from a hit-and-run while running with his cross-country team from Notre Dame High School;
  • ·
  • Team Bryan (Ontario) – More than 100 people honor 22-year-old donor Bryan Morales;
  • ·
  • Team Ortega (La Habra) – In support of Ed Ortega, who has participated in every Run/Walk despite being on dialysis and finally received a new kidney in March after eight years on the kidney transplant list;
  • ·
  • Team Messiah (Yorba Linda) – Messiah Lutheran Church Pastor Bob Mooney (tissue recipient), volunteer Heather Thommen (three-time liver recipient), and congregants from the OC church, honor the gift of life and nine-month old Jack Dunavan, a heart recipient;
  • ·
  • Team Brice Fabing Paragon 4 Life (Lompoc) – Honors 17-year-old Brice Fabing, whose heart recipient Jim Stavis (Calabasas), will be walking with the Fabing family for the first time;
  • ·
  • Transplant professionals and employees from event sponsors St. Joseph Hospital Kidney Transplant Program, Cedars-Sinai Comprehensive Transplant Center, St. Vincent Medical Center, and UCI Transplant Center;
  • ·
  • Nineteen mayors and city council members from Orange County cities including Azusa, Barstow, Buena Park, Cypress, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, La Habra, Laguna Woods, Orange, Orange County, Pomona, Placentia, Santa Ana, Villa Park, Westminster constituent donor family members and transplant recipients;
  • Yorba Linda walking with Moss Adams LLP, presenting sponsor of the Run/Walk; W. L. Butler Construction, Inc.; Vons; and Donate Life media partners CBS Radio and Orange Coast Magazine.

Where: Intramural Field at Cal State University Fullerton campus
800 State College Blvd., Fullerton, CA 92831

[Media should go directly to “Media Check-In” – Park in VIP section with identification]

    Photo Opportunities: ·
  • Lighting of Flame of Life torch honoring donors, recipients and transplant candidates on waiting lists;
  • ·
  • Circle of Life Garden with more than 100 photo-bearing signs honoring donors and recipients;
  • ·
  • Opening of eight baskets of doves in memory of loved ones, including two former Orange County mayors, both liver recipients – Bill Lentini (Brea) and Greg Sowards (Placentia);
  • ·
  • Return of 13 floragraphs to families of donors who were featured on the 2011 Donate Life Rose Parade float
  • Contact: Elena de la Cruz, (213) 479-4704, edelacruz@onelegacy.org
    Rivian Bell or Lisa Bernfeld, JDI Communications, (310) 592-8423 or (888) 477-4329 (24/7),
    rlb@abmac.com or lbernfeld@jdipr.com

For more event information, visit www.donateliferunwalk.org

For information about the Donate Life California Registry, visit www.donateLIFEcalifornia.org or,
in Spanish, www.doneVIDAcalifornia.org


“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Friday, April 22, 2011

Heart-lung transplant survivor promotes organ donation awareness



luton today.co.uk

THE best thing about having a heart and lung transplant is being able to walk, talk and breathe at the same time.

That’s according to courageous Luton teenager Ellis Natale. And she should know – she had the pioneering surgery last August.

“I’m so glad to have my life back,” said the 19-year-old, who was born with cystic fibrosis.

“My chest doesn’t rattle when I breathe and I can walk up and down the stairs.

“I took my three-year-old brother Cael to the park yesterday, which might not seem a big deal to some people. But for me to be able to run around and play with him was absolutely priceless.”

The former Lea Manor schoolgirl is now determined to do all she can to help fellow CF sufferers and to raise awareness about organ donation.

“It only takes two minutes to register and just one donor can save up to eight lives,” she explained.

“Before the operation my health was practically non-existent. I was in hospital constantly, My heart was racing, I was breathless and shaky and I had to wear a mask to help me breathe.

“My oxygen levels were so low I was almost taken off the transplant list.

“But now I have so much energy I feel I should do something useful to help others with the disease.”

Ellis, who lives in Marsh Farm with her mother Jo, is joining two friends taking part in Great Strides, a 10km sponsored walk in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust.

To sponsor the trio go to http://www.justgiving.com/Danielle-Canavan0

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Thursday, April 21, 2011

Manitoba creates internet organ donor registry

Congratulations to Manitoba, Canada for taking the initiative to start an on-line organ donor registry. Other Canadian provinces, such as Ontario, are expected to announce similar on-line registries soon.

Source: CTV.ca

Manitoba's health minister announced a new $100,000 program Tuesday, which will create a new electronic registry for organ donors in hopes of saving lives.

"The electronic organ registry will help professionals identify a patient's wishes even faster," says Health Minister Theresa Oswald. "[It will help] ensure opportunities for organ donations aren't missed."

The registry is meant to help Manitobans like Kristin Millar, who relies on a battery operated pump to keep her alive while she waits for a heart transplant. She is one of 160 people who are waiting for a heart, lung or liver transplant in Manitoba. It's hoped an online registry will encourage more people to donate.

"I'm living with the chance of stroke, of machine failure and of infection," says Kristin Millar. "So I do need a heart transplant."

But some worry the new online registry won't do the job. Charlotte Roy's daughter, Jessica Bondar, recently died while waiting for a heart transplant. She says the online registry won't solve a consistent problem with organ donations.

"They're going to forget to sign up, they're going to mean to do it later," says Charlotte Roy. "They're not going to tell their loved ones what they want. It doesn't go far enough."

Roy says the registry should work the other way around. According to her, there should be a registry for people who don't wish to be a donor so everyone, by default, is an organ donor unless otherwise stated.

But, the province says that doesn't work.

"Where the opt-out clause is initiated, the rates of donations are not higher than places that take an altruistic approach," says Health Minister Theresa Oswald. Her government points out the number of organ donations have been growing steadily in Manitoba over the past few years.

"When comparing the periods between 2000 and 2005, and 2006 and 2010, Manitoba has seen a 76 per cent increase in kidney transplants, a 94 per cent increase in lung transplants, a 106 per cent increase in liver transplants and a 25 per cent increase in heart transplants," said Dr. Brendan McCarthy, medical director of the Transplant Manitoba Gift of Life Program. "This can be attributed to the ongoing investments made in Transplant Manitoba and the changes we've made to make organ donation easier for Manitobans."

The province says last year, Manitoba had one of the highest organ donation rates in Canada at 15.4 deceased donors per million people. Officials say Manitoba has seen a 67 per cent increase in organ donation over the past 15 years.

-With a report from CTV's Eleanor Coopsammy (view video)

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Living kidney donor's company supports Michigan camp for organ transplant kids

I'm always ready to support initiatives such as Karma Inc. Apparel's to help transplant kids and I am especially happy to praise Brian Martindale's decision to be a living kidney donor. The following is a note I received from Brian.
Greetings,
       I am writing you both in hopes of trading links,and getting our story of support out. First, I am donating a Kidney in the coming months at the University of Michigan Transplant Center. They have a Camp for Kids with Organ Transplants-Camp Michitanki. Up to 100 kids attend every year wheather they are able to pay or not,and their medical needs are taken care of there. And they get to spend some normal time as a kid outdoors.

      Our company, Karma Inc Apparel, created a special design for their camp, called "Guilty of Caring", in Mens and Womens shirts. We donate $10.00 for every sale of this design thru May 15th,and 10% of all other sales. We are looking for links,and short mentions to help us get to 5000 sales, so we may donate $50,000 at the end. We are also hosting a benefit Concert and Bowling Benefit May 6th and 7th. NOTE: as of 4/25/11 the following link has been disabled Go to http://karmaincapparel.com to view what we do. I am enclosing a pic of shirt. Thanks for all you do, Brian Martindale

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“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”

Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Monday, April 18, 2011

U.S. Census Bureau Encourages Organ and Tissue Donation

April is Donate Life Month in the U.S. and the Census Bureau is using their vast resources to encourage organ and tissue donation.

WASHINGTON, April 17, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

SUNDAY, APRIL 17: DONATING LIFE

Profile America — Sunday, April 17th. April is a month of spring and resurgence. It's also National Donate Life month — a time to consider organ donation to give a new lease on life to someone in need. The purpose of the observance is to encourage organ and tissue donation, and to sign a donor card when getting a driver's license. Each day, it's estimated that more than 70 people are given a chance to extend their lives by transplant operations. However, 18 others die every day because of a shortage of donations. Nearly 110,000 people are on waiting lists for donated organs to save them from certain death. Transplant operations have become very successful, with the one year survival rate for some procedures as high as 98 percent. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau, online at www.census.gov.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2011, p. 199
www.organdonor.gov

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2011, t. 177

Profile America is produced by the Public Information Office of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on a monthly CD or on the Internet at www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button).

SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

RELATED LINKS
www.census.gov

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Lung transplants get a little time on their side

Doctors aim to get organs into the recipient as soon as possible. But a new study finds that treating organs on a perfusion machine for several hours before transplantation may increase success.


Surgeons treat donated lungs prior to transplantation at Toronto General Hospital. (Toronto General Hospital)
"We won't just transplant an organ," said Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, senior author of the study and director of the Toronto Lung Transplant Program at Toronto General Hospital. "We will diagnose it, fix it, make it OK and then transplant it."


By Shari Roan, Los Angeles Times
For decades, heart and lung transplant surgeons have followed a strict directive: Get the donor organ into the recipient as soon as possible.
That practice may be changing. In a study published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers said both the number of donor lungs and successful transplants may be dramatically increased by treating the organs on a perfusion machine for several hours before transplantation.
The technique marks a paradigm shift in the transplantation field, experts said. About 85% of lungs made available for donation are not used because of tissue damage that potentially could be repaired with perfusion or other techniques.
"We won't just transplant an organ," said Dr. Shaf Keshavjee, senior author of the study and director of the Toronto Lung Transplant Program at Toronto General Hospital. "We will diagnose it, fix it, make it OK and then transplant it."
Variations on the pre-transplant treatment concept are also being tried on kidneys, livers and hearts. Lungs, however, provide a unique opportunity because they are greatly needed and appear so amenable to perfusion treatment, said John Dark, a professor of cardiothoracic surgery at Newcastle University in England and president of the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation.
"This is the most exciting advance in lung transplantation since we first started 25 years ago," said Dark, who was not involved in the study. "It's converting lungs you can't use into lungs you can use. At the moment, we are only using about 20% worldwide of the lungs that are offered to us."
In the U.S., 1,786 people are on the waiting list for a lung transplant, according to the Department of Health and Human Services' Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network. About a third of the patients wait at least three years for a suitable pair of donor lungs, and about 10% to 15% die before receiving a transplant.
Lungs must be able to function immediately once transplanted. For that reason, surgeons are selective about which lungs they use and accept only those in the most pristine condition, Keshavjee said. That poses a challenge because lungs are easily damaged from injury or in the final stages of terminal illness.
The new technique pumps a liquid consisting of oxygen, proteins and nutrients into the donor lungs after they've been removed and transported to the recipient's hospital. Keshavjee and his team used the Toronto XVIVO Lung Perfusion System, which was designed for this purpose. The system is being used around the world but is not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the U.S.
Researchers treated 23 sets of lungs that were impaired in some manner — and would have been rejected for transplant — with perfusion for four hours and transplanted 20 of them that looked viable after the treatment. Surgery outcomes were compared with those of 116 patients who received conventional donor lungs.
After 72 hours, 15% of the patients who received treated lungs suffered primary graft dysfunction, a potentially fatal complication, compared with 30% of the patients in the control group. After 30 days, the rate of deaths, complications and hospital stays were similar between the two groups.
The perfusion technique essentially repairs damage caused by swelling or inflammation in the lung, Dark said. That opens the door to other types of treatments for organs after they have been removed from a donor's body, including antibiotics, gene therapy or even immunosuppressant medications that might lower the risk of rejection.
But estimates on how the technology will effect organ transplantation vary.
"There is still some discrepancy from the transplant community on whether this will really bring significant benefit," said Dr. Christian A. Bermudez, associate director of heart and lung transplantation at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. "There is no doubt it would increase the complexity of the procurement. But it may be a good strategy that would allow some increase in the organ utilization."
Pre-transplant treatment of an organ would add significant cost to transplant surgeries. And if the organ was treated and still deemed unsuitable for transplant, it's not clear who would pay for the failed treatment, Keshavjee said.
"There are things to be ironed out," he said. "The evidence is mounting in favor of it, but it's radically different."

Merv's note:
Watch the video of Dr. Keshavjee's presentation at the TEDMED Conference in San Diego as he unveiled a breathing lung on stage and describes how the Toronto EXVIVO Lung Perfusion System reported above is saving lives.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Friday, April 15, 2011

Donating the gift of life

Donating the gift of life. Cambridge resident Pam Ditner, who is on a waiting list for a new heart, says while conversations about becoming an organ donor can be difficult, the decision can save lives.LISA RUTLEDGE, TIMES STAFF

“If you’re ever faced with having to donate, it’s going to be the worst day in your life.” - Pam Ditner

By Lisa Rutledge Cambridgetimes.ca, Cambridge, Ontario

There really is no easy or polite way to wade into a conversation about becoming an organ donor.

But somehow, braving that brief awkwardness pales sharply when compared to the realization that consenting to be an organ and tissue donor could save up to eight lives and enhance 75 more.

Cambridge resident Pam Ditner will be one of several local volunteers hoping to make discussions about organ and tissue donation a little easier to entertain.

As a volunteer with the local chapter of the Life Donation Awareness Association of Waterloo Region, Ditner will be at the Cambridge Center community kiosk Friday as a way to educate the public about the subject and kick off National Organ and Tissue Donation Awareness Week (NOTDAW) in Canada, April 16 to 22.

“It’s never a great topic,” admits Ditner.

“If you’re ever faced with having to donate, it’s going to be the worst day in your life.”

Still, perspective is everything, she maintains. It’s more about thinking about giving the gift of life.

And as strange as it may sound, making those decisions ahead of time can be comforting, especially for those left behind when a loved one dies. Knowing wishes in advance can deliver a little peace in the midst of tragedy.

Volunteers with the donation association will be at the mall, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., and will answer questions, as well as dispel medical and religious myths relating to donations.

They’ll also have consent forms available for the new health card linked forms from the Trillium Gift of Life Network, a provincial government organization that matches those on waiting lists for donations and those who have consented to be donors.

While the 45-year-old Cambridge resident is devoted to raising awareness about organ and tissue donation, her role is much more personal. As she sits on her family room couch explaining the benefits of “giving”, Ditner holds a purse-backpack containing two batteries that keep her alive.

Ditner, who was diagnosed with congestive heart failure in 1995, is waiting for a new heart and is currently kept alive thanks to a surgically implanted heart pump called a left ventricular assist device or LVAD.

She’s had two close calls, one in early November and another last month. The first couldn’t proceed due to issues with antibodies, which would have caused rejection.

High hopes were dashed, however, Ditner never lost sight of the big picture.

“It was a good heart and somebody else got it, so it’s OK,” she said with a smile.

The second time fell through because of the donor heart showed signs of heart disease. Those occasions never transpired in a new heart for Ditner, but they do provide encouraging signs that chances are getting better every day for those on waiting lists.

Thanks to changes made by Trillium Gift of Life Network and increased awareness, the 1,700 people on waiting lists on any given day has dropped to 1,500. But sadly, on average, one in three dies waiting.

It’s a ratio that volunteers like Ditner hope to see change. That’s why they’re reaching out to communities to raise awareness. That includes correcting assumptions that signing a driver’s licence is enough. But it’s simply not, explained Ditner.

“The reality is that when you’re at the hospital, somebody has taken your wallet home.”

New donation consent forms ensure hospitals have access to databases that will increase chances of ensuring that donors’ gifts help save lives.

Friday’s community event at Cambridge Center won’t focus on generating more consent forms, though. It will be about starting discussions.

“Even if you don’t sign a form at the mall, we’d like you go home and have a conversation.”

For more information about local Life Donation Awareness Association, visit www.lifedonationawareness.com.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Screenings for kidney disease save Alaskan lives

Although this article is about Alaska the overview and screening tips for kidney disease are applicable everywhere and something we should all be aware of. As of April 8, 2011, of the 120,046 people waiting for an organ transplant in the United States, 94,116 are waiting for a kidney transplant.

The National Kidney Foundation notes that those with CKD are 16 to 40 times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease before developing kidney failure.

By Robin Bassett The Bristol Bay Times

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is known as a silent killer; it's painless and progresses slowly into kidney failure. But kidney disease's impact on Americans and Alaskans is far from quiet as the CKD count quickly reaches epidemic proportions.

More than 26 million adult Americans have CKD and millions more are at risk for CKD but completely unaware of it. According to United States Renal Data System, more than 600 Alaskans have CKD. The National Kidney Foundation notes that those with CKD are 16 to 40 times more likely to die of cardiovascular disease before developing kidney failure.

Kidney failure can be treated with replacement therapy called dialysis. Another option is kidney transplant; more than 87,000 Americans are waiting for a kidney organ to become available. Living in Alaska is particularly difficult for those with CKD and kidney failure because the state has only six nephrologists (physicians trained as internists with additional training in kidney disease). All are located in Anchorage, and even though many make monthly visits to Fairbanks, Juneau and Kenai, the wait to see a nephrologist is often longer than three months.

That's why kidney screenings are critical to helping Alaskans avoid CKD.

Alaskans can receive free kidney screenings thanks to the National Kidney Foundation, which sponsors the Kidney Early Evaluation Program (KEEP). These screenings are conducted around Alaska several times annually; the last screenings evaluated more than 200 Alaskans.

At KEEP screenings, blood and urine tests, as well as blood pressure readings, are measured, and each participant meets with a clinician to discuss preliminary results. Further results are mailed to participants' homes and to their primary care providers for further work-up and referrals.

The importance of healthy, hardworking kidneys can't be overstated. Kidneys filter approximately 200 liters of blood each day, removing two liters of toxins, wastes and water. Kidneys also: regulate the body's water balance and blood pressure; support healthy bone and tissues by producing the active form of vitamin D; release a hormone that signals the bone marrow to manufacture red blood cells; keep the blood's acid levels regulated; keep minerals in balance; and retrieve necessary nutrients so that the body can reabsorb them.

Kidneys are often victims of other disease processes within the body. Diabetes is the No. 1 cause of kidney failure, with hypertension second. Kidney function screenings should be an annual event for anyone with diabetes, hypertension or with immediate family members with these conditions or histories of kidney disease or dialysis.

The Alaska Department of Health and Social Services reports that 66 percent of adult Alaskans are overweight or obese. Being overweight or obese increases the risk for diabetes, hypertension and the development of CKD.

CKD's silent and progressive nature can suddenly strike people who aren't screened: they can suffer side effects of kidney disease or even face the decision of dialysis or replacing failed kidneys with little time for prevention or preparation.

March was National Kidney Month. Use the recent landmark as motivation to increase your kidney awareness and care. The National Kidney Foundation is an important resource for help. It's dedicated to preventing kidney and urinary tract disease, improving the health and well-being of individuals and families affected by these diseases, and increasing the availability of all organs for transplantation. Visit its website at www.kidney.org.

FREE KIDNEY SCREENINGS IN ALASKA
Dates for upcoming free KEEP screenings:

  • 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, May 14 at Shiloh Baptist Church, Anchorage
  • 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 1, at JP Jones Development Center, Fairbanks
  • Learn more about free kidney screenings around Alaska by contacting Kristie Lemmon at 877-889-6318 or email kristie.lemmon@kidney.org.
TIPS FOR KEEPING YOUR KIDNEYS HEALTHY

  • Get screened annually to find out if you already have chronic kidney disease.
  • Protect your kidneys by keeping blood sugars controlled, keeping your blood pressure below 130/80, and keeping your cholesterol down.
  • Manage your weight and weight loss. Studies show that overweight or obese people are at higher risk for diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia. Obesity is also associated with a specific type of kidney disease called focal glomerulosclerosis (scarring in specific areas of the kidneys that lead to kidney failure).
  • Pay attention to kidney disease warning signs: feeling tired and fatigued; difficulty concentrating; difficulty eating or sleeping; muscle cramps, especially at night; swelling in feet ankles or face, especially around the eyes; itchy and dry skin; and urge to urinate more frequently, especially at night.
  • For more information on kidney awareness, visit the National Kidney Foundation website at www.kidney.org.

Robin Bassett ANP is a CDR in the USPHS detailed to Alaska Native Medical Center Internal Medicine providing nephrology services. She can be reached at 907-729-1550 or by email at rabassett@anthc.org.


“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Scarring of Transplanted Kidneys Less of a Problem Today

Yahoo News

TUESDAY, April 12 (HealthDay News) -- Progressive scar damage to transplanted kidneys may be less common and less severe than reported in previous research, says a new study.

The research included 797 patients who received new kidneys between 1998 and 2004 and were followed for at least five years.

One year after transplant, 87 percent of the patients had mild or no signs of progressive scar damage on their new kidney. After five years, that decreased slightly to 83 percent, said the Mayo Clinic researchers.

The investigators noted that their findings contrast with studies of patients who received kidney transplants in the early 1990s. Those earlier reports found most transplanted kidneys were affected by progressive scarring that eventually resulted in transplant failure.

"These results are significant and encouraging for everyone who is concerned about long-term survival for kidney transplant patients," transplant surgeon Dr. Mark Stegall said in a Mayo Clinic news release. "Our results suggest that transplanted kidneys may be doing better than reports from prior eras have indicated."

The study is published in the April issue of the American Journal of Transplantation.

More information
The National Kidney Foundation has more about kidney transplant.

“You Have the Power to Save Lives – Register to be an organ and tissue donor & Tell Your Loved Ones of Your Decision”
Register to be a donor in Ontario at Trillium Gift of Life Network NEW for Ontario: recycleMe.org - Learn The Ins & Outs Of Organ And Tissue Donation. Register Today!
For other Canadian provinces click here
In the United States, be sure to find out how to register in your state at ShareYourLife.org or Download Donor Cards from OrganDonor.Gov
In Great Britain, register at NHS Organ Donor Register
In Australia, register at Australian Organ Donor Register
Your generosity can save or enhance the lives of up to fifty people with heart, kidneys, liver, lungs, pancreas and small intestine transplants (see allotransplantation). One tissue donor can help by donating skin, corneas, bone, tendon, ligaments and heart valves

Has your life been saved by an organ transplant? "Pay it forward" and help spread the word about the need for organ donation - In the U.S. another person is added to the national transplant waiting list every 11 minutes and 18 people die each day waiting for an organ or tissue transplant. Organs can save lives, corneas renew vision, and tissue may help to restore someone's ability to walk, run or move freely without pain. Life Begins with You