News Tagged ‘kidney failure

New test can identify kidney injury earlier

Each year, more than 13 million patients suffer from acute kidney injury, of which more than 30 percent die. The prevalence of kidney injury has risen to epidemic proportions. Over the past 60 years, little progress has been made to improve the statistics of this condition. But Denmark-based company BioPorto Diagnostics has developed a groundbreaking test called NGAL that can diagnose acute kidney injury early, adding valuable time for doctors to take proactive steps at an early stage that will prevent kidney injury from turning into the very dangerous state of kidney failure.

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Second bowel cleansing recommended for colonoscopies

Many physicians who perform colonoscopies are beginning to ask their patient for a second cleansing of the bowel in the wee hours before their procedures to ensure the bowel is clean and reduce the need for a redo.

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Lawsuits mount against maker of over-the-counter bowel cleanser

fleet product boxes 150x150 Lawsuits mount against maker of over the counter bowel cleanserThe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) black box warning on oral sodium phosphates (OSPs) came late last year, but as early as 2003, doctors were beginning to make the link between OSP pills and solutions used to clear the bowel before colonoscopies and serious and permanent kidney injuries. As more and more reports of and even complete kidney failure began to pour in to the FDA, the agency finally issued a mild warning in 2005. The black box warning on prescription OSP products would come three years later, after 21 more reports of serious kidney injuries. Soon after that FDA warning, C.B. Fleet quickly pulled its over-the-counter OSP products off the market.

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