kidney disease

Some in the medical community now question the use of race in kidney care. They argue it could exacerbate health disparities.

Health & Safety

Is It Time For A Race Reckoning In Kidney Medicine?

10:10am December 28, 2020

by Maria Godoy

A movement sparked by medical students is pushing to eliminate the use of race to estimate kidney function, saying it reinforces racist thinking. Some argue the change could cause unintended harm.

Ambulances arrive at a hospital in New York City, where concerns are rising about the supply of dialysis equipment for ICU patients.

Health & Safety

Shortage Of Dialysis Equipment Leads To Difficult Decisions In New York ICUs

6:57pm April 19, 2020

by Fred Mogul

Hospital workers on the front lines in the New York metro area have been sounding the alarm about an insufficient supply of dialysis machines for patients with COVID-19-related kidney damage.

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Laborers in the sugar cane fields of Central America are experiencing a rapid and unexplained form of kidney failure. Above: Harvesting sugar cane in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua.

Whatever Happened To ... The Mysterious Kidney Disease Striking Central America?

10:07pm August 26, 2019

by Jason Beaubien

Some researchers now say that tens of thousands of deaths due to kidney failure may be linked to climate change. But others aren't so sure.

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President Trump signed an executive order Wednesday proposing to change how kidney disease is treated in the United States. It encourages in-home dialysis and more kidney donations.

Health & Safety

Trump Administration Announces Plans To Shake Up The Kidney Care Industry

10:19pm July 10, 2019

President Trump has signed an executive order pushing for sweeping changes in the way kidney disease is treated.

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President Trump with first lady Melania Trump returns to the White House May 10, 2018, after greeting three freed Americans who had been detained in North Korea. Until Monday, May 10 was the last time the first lady had been seen publicly.

Politics & Government

After Weeks Out Of The Public Eye, Melania Trump Re-Emerges at White House Event

8:25pm June 04, 2018

by Sarah McCammon

First lady Melania Trump had been out of the public eye for weeks following treatment for what the White House described as a benign kidney condition.

Arts

Art And Creativity Can Motivate People Through Tough Times: Scott Burton

10:57am April 13, 2017

by Hope Nitsche

Radio camper Hope Nitsche sits down tihe Scott Burton to discuss his experiences with Kidney Disease, and how art and creating helped him pushed him through his illness.

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Nurses teach patients how to use equipment and do peritoneal dialysis at home.

Feds Say More People Should Try Dialysis At Home

5:00am October 04, 2016

by Eric Whitney

Nationwide, fewer than 10 percent of people who need kidney dialysis do it at home. But close to 40 percent of patients of a Montana doctor do it at home. Medicare is hoping that becomes a trend.

African-American patients with chronic kidney disease were half as likely to use an electronic health portal than were non-black patients.

Online Health Tools Might Not Help The People Who Need It Most

1:18pm October 23, 2015

by Lynne Shallcross

An online portal to manage chronic kidney disease sounds great, but poor, older or black people were less likely to use it. That means the shift to e-health could make health disparities worse.

Image of a mini-kidney formed in a dish from human induced pluripotent stem cells.

Science

Scientists Grow Primitive Human Kidneys In A Dish

4:36pm October 07, 2015

by Rob Stein

Scientists have tried for years to grow artificial kidneys in the lab. They've gotten a bit closer by using stem cells to create an "organoid" much like a fetal kidney. But it's missing key parts.

A new study finds that strenuous labor in the sugar cane fields of Central America is contributing to a mysterious form of kidney failure. Above: Workers harvest sugar cane in Chichigalpa, Nicaragua.

New Clues To Mysterious Kidney Disease Afflicting Sugar Cane Workers

11:48am February 04, 2015

by Jason Beaubien

What's causing the ailment that has struck 20,000 farmhands in Nicaragua and El Salvador? Pesticides? Alcoholism? Rat pee spreading an infection? A study from Boston University provides some answers.