From Over the Mountain Journal, Birmingham and Northern Alabama
Birmingham Walk for PKD in Hoover
Oct. 12, 9 a.m.-noon
Heardmont Park and Senior CenterThe third annual Walk for PKD will be held from 9 a.m. through noon at the Heardmont Park and Senior Center on Oct. 12. The event will raise money for research and treatment of polycystic kidney disease. There will be face painting and a bounce house for children and free health screenings from Samford University and Auburn University pharmacy school students. Winn-Dixie will offer flu shots for $12 at the event. Registration for the free event begins at 9 a.m. and the one-mile walk starts at 10 a.m. Heardmont Park is located at 5452 Cahaba Valley Road. For more information, visit walkforpkd.kintera.org or call 256-318-3868.
Gift of Life
Kidney donors critical for those with PKD
WHETHERSFIELD, Conn. (WTNH)-- The number one most needed organ is kidneys. More than half on the waiting list are waiting for one. For people with polycystic kidney disease, it's their only lifeline.
Donate Life reminders are most everywhere at the headquarters of the Connecticut Department of Motor Vehicles and its satellite locations.
"The need is so desperate," said Jaime Lazarus, PKD CT Chapter Coordinator.
The need for organ donors is critical for people diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease or PKD.
"It causes cysts to grow over the organ until the healthy tissue starts to deteriorate and the organ begins to fail," said Lazarus.
There is no cure or treatment for PKD, a genetic disorder. The only lifeline is a kidney donation.
Jaime Lazarus's mother had PKD and died waiting for one.
"My mom didn't have to lose her life. And I miss her terribly every minute of every day, so if there's anything we can do to prevent other families from going through this, then I hope people will join me in registering as an organ and tissue donor," said Lazarus. [Read more]
EAU CLAIRE When a family member gets sick many times our first instinct is to step in help, but when a family is dealing with a genetic disease many times that's not an option.
One of the most common life-threatening genetic conditions is Polycystic Kidney Disease.
"There are a lot of things in my life that are perfect but then you have this one thing that affects you and you’re in a stalemate," Silas Cole said.
For twenty-two year old Silas twice a week time is kept through an IV.
“I’ve been on dialysis for 3 months now,” said Silas.
He was diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease or PKD at age 15. PKD is a genetic kidney disease that affects more than 600,000 people in the U.S.
The disease causes the kidneys to form cysts. “What happens is when the cysts start growing the normal kidney tissue dies off and you start losing kidney function because of that," Dr. Ibraheem Abbas with Mayo Clinic Health System said.
Doctors say a healthy kidney is about the size of a human fist but a kidney with PKD get a larger than a football and weigh more than 38 pounds.
“It’s a lifelong disease and can have multiple complications and affect multiple generations of a family,” said Abbas.
“It affects the way your family lives and it affects the way your family thinks,” Brenda Cole said.
Brenda has battled PKD for more than a decade. She has undergone two kidney transplants and hit the five year milestone since her last transplant this year.
“I did not know how sick I was until I had the transplant it changed my life,” said Brenda.
Brenda says her health is bitter sweet though as she waits for her son to get the same lifesaving gift...
There is a fund set up with Associated Bank Called ‘The Silas Cole Benefit Fund’ to help with Silas with medical bills. [Read more]
From Northborough Patch, New England, Posted by Michael Gelbwasser (Editor)
Northborough resident Penny Brown was among the New England Organ Bank volunteers raising awareness of organ and tissue donation during last weekend's festivities.
Penny Brown volunteered during last weekend's Spirit of Shrewsbury to continue repaying an act of kindness 15 years ago.
Brown received a kidney transplant15 years ago.
Brown was among the New England Organ Bank volunteers raising awareness of organ and tissue donation during last weekend's festivities.
"I owe it. I owe my life to transplant," Brown told Northborough Patch this week.
"Someone was kind enough to sign up to be a donor, and I am alive because of it. So, why shouldn't I spread the word and help other people?"
Brown said she had been "sick most of my life" from polycystic kidney disease, or PKD, a genetic disease, before receiving her transplant.
"My mother passed away from (PKD) when I was in my teens," Brown said.
Brown said she ultimately went on dialysis at 39 for 11 months, "a very short time," when her surgeon called to say a kidney was available. [Read more]
From Oldham Evening Chronicle, United Kingdom
A PHENOMENAL act of friendship and kindness has given one man and his family new hope of a healthy, happy life together.
Mark Holden, who suffers from the genetic and degenerative disorder Polycystic Kidney Disease, is now well on the road to recovery after a successful kidney transplant.
And the woman who bestowed the lifesaving gift, Liz Whitworth, has been nominated for a Pride in Oldham Award.
Liz (45), from High Crompton, underwent four hours of surgery to pass on her healthy kidney to Mark — the husband of her best friend Ruth — back in April.
Mark’s ailing organs were at a point where he was destined for dialysis if the operation did not go ahead but Liz says when she realised she was a match for Mark it seemed natural to go ahead.
Liz says she can’t believe she’s been nominated for a Pride in Oldham Award. “I’m honoured to be nominated but I feel very humbled by it all,” said the the mum-of-three who is now back at work as a business manager at St Thomas Leesfield CE Primary School in Lees.
“I did think about what I was going to do a lot because I have my own family, but it was something I would have done for anyone close to me.
“I have known Ruth since I was four, she is like another sister to me, and Mark is close to me and my family so doing this seemed an obvious thing to do.”
PKD Research
From MedicalXpress.com
A new study published today in British Journal of Pharmacology has identified that a component of grapefruit and other citrus fruits, naringenin, successfully blocks the formation of kidney cysts.
Known as polycystic kidney disease, this is an inherited disorder which leads to the loss of kidney function, high blood pressure and the need for dialysis. Few treatment options are currently available.
The team of scientists from Royal Holloway University, St George's, University of London and Kingston University London used a simple, single-celled amoeba to identify that naringenin regulates the PKD2 protein responsible for polycystic kidney disease and as a result, blocks formation of cysts.
"This discovery provides an important step forward in understanding how polycystic kidney disease may be controlled," said Professor Robin Williams from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway.
"In the study, we have demonstrated how effective the amoeba Dictyostelium is in the discovery of new treatments and their targets. Having previously applied the same method of testing in our work into epilepsy and bipolar treatments, it is clear that this new approach could help us reduce reliance on animal testing and provide major improvements."
To test how this discovery could apply in treatments, the team used a mammalian kidney cell-line, and triggered the formation of cysts in these cells. They were then able to block the formation of the cysts by adding naringenin and saw that when levels of the PKD2 protein were reduced in the kidney cells, so was the block in cyst formation, confirming that the effect was connected. [Read more]
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