A new study published in the medical journal Neurology suggests that impaired kidney function is a risk factor for cognitive decline in old age.

Measuring kidney function in children can be expensive, time-consuming for clinicians, and tedious for children, who may be exposed to radioactivity and subjected to a large number of blood draws.

A formula used to measure kidney function in children with chronic kidney disease has been revised to make it more precise, according to a study published online January 21 in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

To find a cure for cancer, haemophilia and other diseases, researchers need to be looking for complex, interacting genetic factors, according to the authors of a new study.

Labs that conduct the highest number of routine blood tests are more likely than others to report estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), an important measure of kidney function that can identify early kidney disease, according to a survey funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

A study of almost 1,500 kidney cancer patients treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center suggests that surgery to spare as much kidney tissue as possible may improve overall survival in patients who also have reduced kidney function at the time their cancer is diagnosed. The finding is significant because both kidney cancer and decreased kidney function appear to be increasing.

A routinely available laboratory result called the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) provides a simple indicator of kidney function and may increase early diagnoses of chronic kidney disease (CKD). However, widespread use of eGFR for this purpose may have inherent flaws and dangers—including a risk that large numbers of elderly patients will be misclassified as having CKD.

Scientists at The Australian National University are a step closer to understanding the rare Hartnup disorder after discovering a surprising link between blood pressure regulation and nutrition that could also help to shed light on intestinal and kidney function.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers have identified a key mechanism underlying proteinuria – excess protein in the urine which signifies a breakdown in the kidney’s filtering process.

A combination of two types of blood pressure-lowering drugs—an angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor plus an angiotensin-receptor blocker, added to enzyme replacement therapy with agalsidase-beta —is the first treatment shown to stop progressive loss of kidney function in patients with severe kidney involvement due to the rare genetic disorder Fabry disease, reports a study in the September Journal of American Society of Nephrology.

The most common procedure for clearing blocked kidney arteries can also release thousands of tiny particles into the bloodstream that can impair kidney function, according to researchers from Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center and colleagues.

A new way to provide clear images of cancerous tumors in the kidney during surgery promises to help physicians preserve as much kidney function as possible while still removing all the malignant tissue - a significant advance as doctors discover that saving as much healthy kidney tissue as possible is crucial for the future health of cancer patients.