renal failure

Nearly 560,000 Americans undergo dialysis each year, and while treatment can vastly improve quality of life, it can also contribute to worsening it. Now, a study has made the case for exercise programs to become part of the life-saving renal treatment.

Scientists have identified the role an enzyme, crucial to the body’s metabolism, plays in the development of kidney disease, opening the door to new methods of prevention and treatment of this increasingly prevalent condition.

Results from a trial testing an ultrasound therapy for hypertension show the treatment can deliver meaningful reductions in blood pressure. The treatment is based on a hypothesis that disrupting signals from renal nerves can reduce blood pressure.

In a development that could one day eliminate the need for dialysis, researchers have unveiled a prototype model of the first implantable artificial kidney.

The Wearable Artificial Kidney (WAK) is a miniaturized dialysis machine that can be worn as a belt, allowing patients with end stage renal failure the freedom to engage in daily activity while undergoing uninterrupted dialysis treatment.