Welcome to my third edition of KidneyCoach.com News Weekly! The place where I do a round-up of all the top stories related to kidneys, kidney health and kidney disease for the week.

This edition covers many interesting stories where you will discover how low levels of vitamin D is linked to kidney disease complications, new insights into the cause of chronic inflammatioin in kidney disease sufferers, how gene mutations may hold the key for a certain kidney disease, a mystery kidney disease epidemic in Central America, among many others.

…There are plently of interesting and eyeopening news stories below that will both help and inform you.

Here are the top 8 news stories for the week:

News Story #1

Gene mutation play a major role in 1 cause of kidney disease …
Mutations in a gene called INF2 are by far the most common cause of a dominantly inherited condition that leads to kidney failure, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American …
http://www.breakthroughdigest.com/

News Story #2

Low Vitamin D Linked to Kidney Disease Complications in Children
CINCINNATI—Vitamin D deficiency is more common in children who suffer from kidney disease and contributes to thryroid problems and inflammation. These findings were published online ahead of print in the journal Kidney International. …
www.naturalproductsinsider.com

News Story #3

Scientists discover new susceptibility genes for kidney disease
Singapore and Chinese scientists have identified new susceptibility genes for a specific kidney disease and found risk variants that could influence the clinical symptoms of patients. Their discovery is related to the disease immunoglobulin A …
health.asiaone.com

News Story #4

Mystery Kidney Disease in Central America
Kidney disease has killed so many men here that locals now call their community not simply La Isla – which means “The Island” – but La Isla de las Viudas – “The Island of the Widows.” The epidemic extends far beyond Nicaragua. It’s prevalent along the …
www.theworld.org

News Story #5

Scientists Identify Potential Drug Target For Kidney Cancer
by VR Sreeraman on December 31, 2011 at 1:21 PM Drug News Scientists have laid the foundation of completely understanding the intricacies of distinct kidney cancer subtypes, which could lead to better treatments for the disease. …
m.medindia.net

News Story #6

Another Problem With Red Meat: It Might Lead to Kidney Cancer
By Genevra Pittman Red meat is an important source of protein, but eating too much of it could result in various health problems, including renal cancer. People who eat lots of red meat may have a higher risk of some types of kidney cancer, …
www.theatlantic.com

News Story #7

Comment: I find this one of the most interesting of all the news stories listed here. In naturopathic philosphy the digestive system is seen as the “seat” of health, and many, many disorders (seemingly unrelated) stem from an unhealthy digestive tract. This usually occurs because of harmful microbes entering the digestive tract. Now kidney disease may be other condition to add to this list of known conditions.

Chronic Kidney Disease-related Inflammation’s Key Cause, Identified
by Nancy Needhima on December 16, 2011 at 8:49 PM General Health News Vital source of inflammation found in chronic kidney disease patients, which is increasingly common due to obesity-related diabetes and hypertension has been unveiled by UC Irvine …
www.medindia.net

News Story #8

Comment: A great online tool for those struggling with managing their kidney disease diet.

New web resource helps kidney patients with complex burden of diet planning
Foods that most of us are urged to eat — fruits and vegetables, brown rice and whole grain pastas — are not kidney diet friendly. Even something as simple as mashed potatoes are a no-no, unless the water is changed several times during the boiling, …
www.winnipegfreepress.com

I would really like  to hear some of your thoughts and comments on these news stories, so please tell me what you think. What story did you find the most interesting? Thought provoking? Or useful?

Please “LIKE”  this page and share it with anyone that might find it of benefit, thank you!

To YOUR amazing health in 2012!

Welcome to my second edition of KidneyCoach.com News Weekly! The place where I do a round up of all the top stories related to kidneys, kidney health and kidney failure for the week.

The featured news stories for this week cover everything from a potential new treatment that may halt the progression of kidney failure; feel-good stories where family members give their loved ones a new lease of life; clinical studies on how diet impacts the progression of kidney failure, and many more. But rather than me tell you about them…

Here are the top 6 news stories for the week:

News Story #1

Research aims to prevent diabetic kidney failure
The enzyme arginase-2 plays a major role in kidney failure, and blocking the action of this enzyme might lead to protection against renal disease in diabetes, according to researchers. “We believe these arginase inhibitors may be one of the new targets …
www.virtualmedicalcentre.com

News Story #2

Comment: Here are two articles on the same story. The first is for the more technically minded, the second is in plain english. The articles are a another great example of the power that diet has on the human body in preventing and treating kidney disease.

Intensive treatment preserves kidney function in patients with type 1 diabetes

“Our primary outcome was an estimated GFR less than 60 milliliters per minute, which represents a substantial loss of kidney function and is known to confer an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and death; essentially, it’s stage-III chronic …
www.endocrinetoday.com

Intense Kidney Protection
People can develop end-stage renal disease (the complete or almost complete failure of the kidneys) when they have an impaired glomerular filtration rate (GFR) – the volume of fluid filtered from the kidney. Dr. de Boer and colleagues wanted find out …
www.dailyrx.com

News Story #3

Comment: Here is a feel good story where a 14 y.o. daughter was able to save her mother’s life.

News Story #4

Comment: A lesson on NEVER giving up.

A donation of a lifetime: Local woman donates kidney to her cousin
Four years ago Jan’s kidneys began to be affected, not an uncommon side effect from the diabetes. She soon was legally blind. The hikes up Mount LeConte, the camping trips, the time on the lake — activities the two liked to share — were over. …
themountainpress.com

News Story #5

Comment: Medical advancements.

Kidney-friendly stent being tested
The Ventana Fenestrated Stent Graft System, in white, allows blood to keep flowing to the kidneys after it is used to repair an aneurysm in the area of the abdominal aorta. Following training sessions for researchers this month at the Methodist …
suncoastpinellas.tbo.com

News Story #6

Comment: If only these people knew the true value of their own kidneys.

Kidney trading gang jailed for 5 to 6 years
CAN THO — The People’s Court in Can Tho City on Tuesday sentenced four members of a kidney-trading ring to prison for five to six years each on charges of “organising people to flee the country”. Organ trading is a crime in Viet Nam, but in this case, …
vietnamnews.vnagency.com.vn

…If you know of any other stories that we many find interesting here at kidneycoach.com, please shoot us an email, or post a comment below together with a link. We would loved to hear from you.

Again I hope you find this new ‘regular’ post interesting and helpful. Please give it a “LIKE” below, thank you!

I thought I would do something a little different today. I thought I would do a weekly round-up of the all the top news related to the kidneys and kidney health. But further to that, I plan to do this as a regular featured post each and every week to keep you up to date with all the latest (and best) information on the web. The web is a big place, and so by doing this I would like to make it a little smaller by “distilling” all the information for you, making this the place to go to when you want the facts. Any news related to community events, scientific breakthroughs, diet, medicines, treatments, etc. related to kidney health, I will report it here!

But I won’t just leave it there, my goal will also to report on other stories that I feel that you might find interesting, inspiring, funny, and/or enlightening. In fact it is my hope that it gives you and me the opportunity to get off the beaten path and explore the many facets of life, health, and kidneys.

So here is how it will generally work:

1. I will post the links to the main news stories of the past week with a small description, and if needed, a few comments by myself to give you further insight.

2. You click on the link, and it will take you to the website that is reporting the news. Done!

OK, so let’s get on with it shall we? Excellent.

News Story #1

New Study in NEJM Offers Hope to Lupus Patients with Kidney Disease
Nephrologists at the Miller School of Medicine have played a key role in an international study that has uncovered an effective therapy for treating patients with lupus nephritis, a debilitating kidney disease linked to lupus. …
www.healthcanal.com

News Story #2

Vitamin B derivative helps diabetics with mild kidney disease
A vitamin B6 derivative may help slow or prevent the progression of mild kidney disease in patients with diabetes, according to a study appearing in an issue of the Journal of the American Society Nephrology (JASN). The drug may benefit increasing …
www.stlamerican.com

News Story #3

ASN: Calcium Score Predicts CVD Risk in Kidney Disease
Explain that in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), coronary artery calcification predicted the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events, especially in those with no history of CVD. Point out that a coronary artery calcification (CAC) score …
www.medpagetoday.com

News Story #4

Intensive Type 1 Diabetes Therapy Lowers Kidney Failure Risk
November 12, 2011 (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) — Intensive therapy for type 1 diabetes mellitus lowers the long-term risk for impaired glomerular filtration rate (GFR), a predictor of end-stage kidney disease and a risk factor for cardiovascular …
www.medscape.com

News Story #5

Study Shows Association of Elevated Galectin-3 Levels With Poor Outcomes in …
“Heart failure is commonly complicated by declining kidney function with kidney disease markedly contributing to the morbidity and mortality of heart failure patients,” said Pieter Muntendam, MD, President and CEO of BG Medicine. …
www.marketwatch.com

Well there you have it! Let me know what you think of this idea, and let me know if there is anything particular you would like to see in this type of post.

I always love to hear from you.

To your health,

Duncan