Posts Tagged: kidney

Opinion

Heroes: Organ donors giving the gift of life

Surgeons at work performing an organ transplant procedure. (Photo: David Tadevosian, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: With over 100,000 Americans waiting for a lifesaving transplant, and about 20% of them living in the Golden State, it’s critical for us to remember the importance of Donate Life Month, which takes place nationally every April. It’s a symbolic time to recognize the miracle of life that organ donors give to recipients and encourage all Americans to consider registering to be possible donors.

News

Labor, industry tangle over dialysis ballot initiative

A dialysis machine at work. (Photo:Aleksandr Ivasenko, via Shutterstock)

Kidney dialysis may sound like an odd topic for a California ballot proposition, but voters will tangle with the issue on Nov. 3 — for the second time.The basic fight over Proposition 23 is between organized labor, which favors the initiative, and the dialysis clinic industry, which is opposed. Surrounding the debate are questions of medical care quality, clinic staffing, access, and costs.

Opinion

Prop. 8 won’t improve dialysis patients’ treatment

A dialysis patient during treatment. (Photo: Picsfive, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: I am the CEO of the National Kidney Foundation. I am a believer in this nearly 70-year-old organization that was started at the kitchen table of a mother desperately trying to save her child’s life. I 100 percent buy into our mission to be an advocate for all kidney patients and relentlessly fight for their quality of life, their treatments and their cure.

Opinion

Kidney transplants: Correct the flaw in the sytem

A surgical team performing an operation in a California hospital.(Photo: Hernndorff, via Shutterstock)

OPINION: So after seven years of waiting, I finally received a kidney transplant in 2006. That same kidney has kept me alive, and I am grateful I have never had to go back to dialysis. Part of the reason I have stayed healthy is because my continuous health insurance pays for the medication to prevent my body from rejecting the transplanted kidney. But there is a flaw in our system that could prevent kidney transplant recipients from getting this kind of care.

News

Stem cell agency eyes kidney transplant breakthrough

A pipette and recepticles used in stem cell research. (Photo: CI Photos)

The California stem cell agency has doubled down on its bet on a potentially breakthrough treatment for kidney transplants, raising to $25.4 million its support for a project that is entering its final stages. The hope is that the treatment will not only improve the success rate of kidney transplants but also lead to use in liver, heart and other solid organ transplants.

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