Anemia and other conditions related to chronic kidney disease are independently associated with the risk of cardiovascular disease; conversely, heart disease is associated with a decline in kidney function and the development of kidney disease, according to two reports in the June 11 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

Computer scientists at Carnegie Mellon University have developed a new computerized method for matching living kidney donors with kidney disease patients that can increase the number of kidney transplants - and save lives.

Good patient information is essential for choosing the best treatment for the kidney disease lupus nephritis. Dutch researcher Cecile Grootscholten concludes this following her doctoral research into two methods for treating lupus nephritis. She did not demonstrate any major differences but both treatments have pros and cons.

While men and women both get high blood pressure and related kidney disease, the path to get there is shorter, steeper and just different for men, researchers say.

Thousands of people with liver and kidney disease die every year from too much ammonia in their blood, and scientists from the United States and Japan have found a possible solution. In the April 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal they report that a protein which excretes ammonia through pufferfish gills is similar to human Rh blood proteins. By targeting human Rh proteins, new treatments will help people with damaged livers and kidneys remove toxic ammonia from their bloodstream.