6 July, 2013

New urine test can diagnose and predict kidney transplant rejection

Washington: A urine test can now determine whether a transplanted kidney recipient is in the process of rejecting the donated organ, as well as identifying who is at risk of rejection several weeks and even months before symptoms appear.

By measuring just three genetic molecules in a urine sample, the test accurately diagnoses acute rejection of kidney transplants, the most frequent and serious complication of kidney transplants, says the study`s lead author, Dr. Manikkam Suthanthiran, the Stanton Griffis Distinguished Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College and chief of transplantation medicine, nephrology and hypertension at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center.

"It looks to us that we can actually anticipate rejection of a kidney several weeks before rejection begins to damage the transplant," Dr. Suthanthiran says.

"It looks to us that we can actually anticipate rejection of a kidney several weeks before rejection begins to damage the transplant," Dr. Suthanthiran says.

The test may also help physicians fine-tune the amount of powerful immunosuppressive drugs that organ transplant patients must take for the rest of their lives, Dr. Suthanthiran, whose laboratory developed what he calls the "three-gene signature" of the health of transplanted kidney organs, said.

"We have, for the first time, the opportunity to manage transplant patients in a more precise, individualized fashion. This is good news since it moves us from the current one-size-fits-all treatment model to a much more personalized plan," he says, noting that too little immunosuppression leads to organ rejection and too much can lead to infection or even cancer," the researcher said.

Such a test is sorely needed to help improve the longevity of kidney transplants and the lives of patients who receive these organs, says study co-author Dr. Darshana Dadhania, associate professor of medicine and medicine in surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College and associate attending physician at New York-Presbyterian Hospital.

The study is published in The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM).

Source: www.zeenews.india.com/news/health

06.07.2013

Maha govt to launch `Blood on Call` scheme from Aug 15

Mumbai: Maharashtra government`s ambitious `Blood on Call` scheme, which will ensure that blood is delivered to the needy within 30 minutes of making a call to number 106, will be rolled out in Mumbai and four other districts from August 15.

Blood storage units will be set up at nine places in Vasai Municipal Hospital, Vasai, Bhagwati Hospital in Borivali, ESI Hospital in Kandivali and Mulund, Sub-district hospital in Malwani, V N Desai Hospital in Santacruz, BPT Hospital in Mumbai, Bhabha Hospital in Kurla and Dr Ambedkar Railway Hospital in Byculla.

State-of-the-art modern equipment will be set up at each of the nine units. Permission from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Department has been taken, Health Minister Suresh Shetty said.

Blood supply at these nine units will be for 24 hours. So that the needy persons can benefit within half an hour of the call. These nine units will be provided blood from Sir J J Hospital`s blood bank.

Blood will be transported in cold storage boxes fitted on motorcycles which will have blue lights. The technicians travelling on the vehicles will be given special uniforms. Apart from Mumbai, the scheme will be started in Parbhani, Ahmednagar, Amravati and Gadchiroli.

The pilot project was undertaken earlier this year in Satara and Sindhudurg districts.

The entire state would be covered by the scheme named as `Jeevan Amrut Yojana` by the end of October, Shetty said.

Source: www.zeenews.india.com/news/health

06.07.2013

Do what you can, with what you have, where you are

Theodare Roosvelt