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More than 26 million Americans—one in nine adults—have kidney disease. Millions more are at increased risk for getting it, and most don’t know it. Kidney disease can be found and treated early to prevent more serious kidney disease and other complications.

Doses of vitamin B1 (thiamine) can reverse early kidney disease in people with type 2 diabetes, research shows. The team from Warwick University tested the effect of vitamin B1, which is found in meat, yeast and grain, on 40 patients from Pakistan. The treatment stopped the loss of a key protein in the urine, the journal Diabetologia reports. Charity Diabetes UK called the results "very promising" - but said it was too early for any firm conclusions.

New studies in the laboratory of Dr. Darwin J. Prockop, Director of Tulane University’s Center for Gene Therapy, are shedding light on the previously mysterious mechanism through which even relatively small amounts of stem/progenitor cells taken from a patient’s own bone marrow enhance repair of damaged tissues. The cells not only differentiate to replace injured cells, as had been understood, but they also stimulate the proliferation and differentiation of stem cells already present in the injured tissue and they transfer mitochondrial DNA to local cells in which the mitochondria (the energy of the cell) is not working. Better understanding of...

Animal study shows promise for treatment of Alport syndrome BOSTON -- The discovery that bone-marrow derived stem cells can regenerate damaged renal cells in an animal model of Alport syndrome provides a potential new strategy for managing this inherited kidney disease and offers the first example of how stem cells may be useful in repairing basement membrane matrix defects and restoring organ function. Led by researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC), the findings are described in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), which appears on-line the week of April 24, 2006. Symptoms of Alport syndrome,...

A desperately ill doctor bets on a miracle Sunday, September 26, 2004 First of four partsOne patient was on the table and another was in the next exam room when the phone rang for Dr. Robert Manzi, a Ridgefield internist. He took it in the hallway and said, "Hi, Joe, what's up?"It was his kidney specialist, a colleague at Holy Name Hospital in Teaneck, calling with results from Manzi's biopsy. Manzi hoped to find out why he'd been losing weight, feeling tired, and seeing suds in his urine."Bob,'' the specialist said, "you have primary systemic amyloidosis.''Manzi had read a brief...

Secret Kidney Disease   A shocking 10 million to 20 million Americans have kidney disease and don't know it. Moreover, over 7 million people have less than half the kidney function of a healthy young adult; while another 11.3 million have at least half of what's regarded as normal kidney function, but with persistent protein in their urine (a sign of kidney disease). High chronic kidney disease increases one's risk of premature death, heart attack, stroke, hypertension, anemia, bone disease and malnutrition. In light of this data, it is evident that a major plan of action is needed in...