Medical
Advances
1 in 9 American adults have kidney disease.
Most don't know it.
According to the National Kidney Foundation >> Every year, kidney disease kills more people than breast or prostate cancer. >> Once the kidneys fail, dialysis or a kidney transplant is required.
UCSF Bioartificial Kidney
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A national research project is under way to create a small, surgically implanted, and free-standing bioartificial kidney to treat end stage renal disease (ESRD).
The bioartificial kidney will give ESRD patients new hope beyond the short-term solution of renal dialysis and the longer-term, but impermanent, solution of a living kidney transplant for which donor organs are limited.
As well, the bioartificial kidney is expected to save national health care dollars.
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Finally, legislation that offers people with kidney failure a choice in coverage
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A group of bipartisan legislators are standing up for change. These lawmakers have come forward to introduce legislation that would give this vulnerable patient population access to Medicare Advantage, recognizing that ESRD patients deserve (and will certainly benefit from) access to this model of coordinated care. The proposed legislation, aptly named ESRD Choice Act of 2016 (H.R. 5659) – introduced by Reps. Jason Smith (R-Mo.), John Lewis (D-Ga.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.) and Kurt Schrader (D-Ore.) – will give individuals who develop kidney failure the same freedom of choice offered to every other Medicare beneficiary, allowing them to enroll in MA without restriction.
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3D Printing Replacement Organs For Humans - The Artificial Kidney
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Published Mar 9, 2016
Vanderbilt University Medical Center nephrologist and Associate Professor of Medicine Dr. William H. Fissell IV, have bioprinted an implantable artificial kidney, with microchip filters and living kidney cells that will be powered by a patient’s own heart.
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