Kidney Disease on the Rise Among Seniors

Kidney Disease

From Sunrise Senior Living, by Julia Little

Study: Kidney Disease On The Rise Among Seniors

Seniors face a greater risk of a number of health issues, and a new study suggests that chronic kidney disease may be one of the most significant threats to their well-being. Researchers found that the number of adults 80 and older who have CKD has increased considerably over the last 20-plus years, a growing prevalence that has impacted a large swath of the adult population, according to results published in Journal of the American Medical Association.

Worsening function
To assess seniors' kidney function, researchers relied on answers to the U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys, which was conducted between 1988 and 2010. The team was specifically interested in glomerular filtration rate, which measures how fast blood flows through certain filters in the kidneys. After analyzing the results concerning 3,500 adults 80 an older, researchers found that GFR was present in about 41 percent of people between 1988 and 1994. However, that number rose to about 51 percent between 2005 and 2010.

Given the rising prevalence, study researchers say that "efforts to address CKD among the oldest old may be necessary."

Raises risk of other conditions
The results are particularly worrisome, because CKD can raise the chances that seniors develop other conditions such as kidney failure and cardiovascular disease. According to the National Institutes of Health, seniors are at a greater risk for CKD for a number of reasons, largely due to the fact that the overall kidney tissues decrease and blood vessels that supply kidneys may harden over time. However, there are certain steps older adults can take to maintain their kidney function as they age.

Dedication to diet
Eating the right foods can have a significant impact on healthy senior living, and that's especially true when it comes to kidney function. For instance, certain fruits are particularly helpful, including grapes, cranberries and blueberries. Vegetables such as spinach, string beans, celery and asparagus are helpful as well. Of course, eating well is not the only way for seniors to maintain their kidney function, according to the Polycystic Kidney Disease Research Foundation. Controlling blood pressure through exercise is important as well, as is maintaining healthy blood sugar levels by eating smaller, healthier meals more frequently throughout the day.

From Lancaster Online, Lancaster, PA, By MARY BETH SCHWEIGERT

Is kidney disease an 'epidemic'?

The National Kidney Foundation reports that 1 in 9 American adults has kidney disease.

The condition kills 90,000 Americans every year — more than breast and prostate cancer deaths combined.

Dr. Laurence E. Carroll has seen enormous growth in the number of local patients with kidney disease since 1980, when he started Hypertension & Kidney Specialists, 2112 Harrisburg Pike.

“There is concern that there’s an epidemic of kidney disease in the past 10 to 20 years,” he says. “(In the 1980s) there were 40 (local) dialysis patients. Now there’s over 500.”

The number of local dialysis units has swelled to serve those patients. Ten doctors and six nurse practitioners have joined the practice Carroll started on his own.

Carroll, now retired and president-elect for the Kidney Foundation of Central Pennsylvania’s board of directors, says part of the surge is due to a growing — and aging — population.

Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney disease, followed by hypertension, he says. Both conditions also are growing and become more common with age.

Treatment options for kidney failure include dialysis or a transplant. The National Kidney Foundation reports that 430,000 Americans are on dialysis.

Dialysis keeps people alive, Carroll says, but if a donor is available, a transplant offers the best outcome.

According to the NKF, more than 99,000 Americans currently need a kidney transplant. Fewer than 17,000 receive one each year.

“Transplants are the way to go,” Carroll says. “We need donors.”

PKD News

From DNA India, New Delhi, India

Delhi hospital sets up polycystic kidney disease foundation

The Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Wednesday launched the Polycystic Kidney Disease Foundation of India, ahead of the World Kidney Day that would be observed March 13.

Aimed at increasing awareness about the disease, the foundation will provide information, advice and support to those affected.

"Through the foundation, genetic testing will be provided on complimentary basis and finances will be raised to fund research. This will help in finding a cure for PKD," said PKD Foundation chairman D.S. Rana.

PKD is a group of disorders that result from the formation and enlargement of cysts in the kidneys.

Foundation secretary I.C. Verma said PKD was the world's most common "inherited disorder".

"It is twice as common as multiple sclerosis and affects more people than muscular dystrophy, haemophilia, Down's syndrome and cystic fibrosis. Its frequency ranges from one in 800 to one in 1,000 people. Almost 10 lakh individuals in India have Autosomal Dominant PKD," he said.

Rana said the disease causes five percent of end-stage renal disease in India.

If either of the parents has ADPKD, there is a 50 percent chance that the child will inherit the disease, he added.

Living With PKD

From FarNews, Terhan

Could Grapefruit Be Good for Your Kidneys?

Scientists discovered that a natural product found in grapefruit can prevent kidney cysts from forming.

Naringenin, which is also present in other citrus fruits, has been found to successfully block the formation of kidney cysts, an effect that occurs in polycystic kidney disease, by regulating the PKD2 protein responsible for the condition. With few treatments currently available, symptoms include high blood pressure and loss of kidney function, and lead to the need for dialysis.

World Kidney Day, which is being marked across the globe on 13th March, aims to raise awareness of the importance of kidneys and the risk factors for kidney disease. The discovery of the benefits of naringenin could prove to be a vital step forward in the future treatment and prevention of kidney disease.

Professor Robin Williams, from the School of Biological Sciences at Royal Holloway, said: "This discovery is vital in helping us to understand how polycystic kidney disease may be controlled and ultimately treated. Kidney disease is a debilitating condition that can be fatal and finding a treatment is a truly urgent health priority."

Dialysis Research

From Ceramics.org, by April Gocha, PhD

Wearable zeolite filters show promise as an alternative to kidney dialysis

Researchers from the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectronics (MANA) at Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science have developed a simple and cheap mesh filter that could change the lives of kidney dialysis patients.

Kidneys are like the wastewater treatment plants for your body’s blood—they filter the good stuff from the bad, shunting wastes away and purifying the fluids that stay in circulation. Kidneys balance blood composition by regulating ion and chemical concentrations in the blood, remove waste products, and maintaining bodily water content, among other important functions. So when kidneys fail, it’s a big problem.

Patients with kidney failure must undergo dialysis, a medical procedure that uses a mechanical external kidney to perform the duties of a patient’s defunct organs. Blood must be pumped from the body, through the filtration machine, and then returned to the patient’s body, which means costly, repetitive, inconvenient, and invasive procedures are the norm for dialysis patients.

Areas without an established healthcare infrastructure also have trouble supporting dialysis patients, because they’re often unable to provide and maintain costly equipment and frequent procedures. This is also true of areas with interrupted healthcare services, such as after a major disaster (such as the Fukushima tsunami)—which is precisely what prompted the Japanese scientists to search for a dialysis alternative.

Their findings, published in Biomaterials Science, describe the synthesis of a dual-component filter composed of a matrix of polyethylene-co-vinyl alcohol (EVOH) nanofibers embedded with a mixture of zeolites, microporous aluminosilicates that can absorb uremic toxins (see images above). Embedded zeolites have decreased absorptivity from their free-ranging counterparts, but the authors describe in the paper’s abstract that their filter-incorporated zeolites still had 67% of the absorption of free zeolites. [Read more]