The CKD Insider Newsletter

Welcome to the Chronic Kidney Disease Insider Newsletter. If you are living with chronic kidney disease (CKD) on dialysis, have had a kidney transplant or are helping care for someone who is, this newsletter was created for you and your family! The content is meant to keep you and/or a family member up to date on the latest information to help you manage your health now and in the near future in consultation with your physician.

In this month’s CKD Insider: KDIGO Genetics & CKD, Helping people with CKD in Ukraine, NKF Kidney Walk, Kidney Cancer Educational Webinars, FDA cleared portable Peritoneal Dialysis and your Fun Tip of the Day!

Increased Focus on Genetics in Kidney Disease

The Kidney Disease:Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) group published their findings this month from the Genetics in Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) conference. The paper reviews their discussions on the current understanding of genetic contributions to kidney diseases and how genetic information can be used in the clinic.

The conclusions from this paper focus on the importance of providers collecting genetic information, including detailed family histories and considering including genetic testing. They also identified the need for additional training for nephrologists in this area and future research areas to better understand genetic variation in CKD among other research areas.

You can read more about this conference and the use of genetics in understanding, diagnosing and treating CKD here.

How to Help People with Kidney Diseases in Ukraine
ASN has partnered with Direct Relief—a nonprofit humanitarian aid organization that responds to natural disasters and other emergencies—to establish a fund to support the provision of medicines and supplies to people with kidney diseases affected by the war in Ukraine.

All donations will support Direct Relief’s emergency response to the Ukraine crisis. ASN has contributed the first $10,000 to this fund, you can contribute to the fund here.

NKF Kidney Walk Registration is Open!
NKF has opened registration for the 2022 LaceUp! Kidney Walk campaign - this will be the first time in 2 years that the walk will be in person versus virtually. If you are interested in signing up and raising money for NKF visit the NKF Kidney Walk to find your local walk.

Learn about the latest technologies!

The latest technologies that are growing exponentially include 3D printing, artificial intelligence (AI), adaptive robotics, virtual and augmented reality and many more. Learning about these technologies can be fun and also important as some of these technologies will become part of your world quicker than you think!

Check out some of the incredible technological advances that have occurred in the last 12 months

3D printing

Habitat for Humanity 3D printed their first home with the skeleton completed in 12 hours.
World's first 3D printed stainless steel bridge goes up in Holland that is equipped with embedded sensors enabling a digital twin for modeling purposes can tell when the bridge is moving to help prevent future collapse of the bridge.
Relativity Space is 3D printing reusable rockets with a launch planned for this summer.

Artificial Intelligence

GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer-3) is a large deep learning language model that uses 175 billion parameters built by OpenAI is now available for public use. It is able to produce very human like text and songs, and there are higher GPT versions being built using even more parameters today. You can get a quick 6 minute overview on how it works and how to sign up here.
RoseTTAFold accurately predicts how proteins fold in minutes versus years, this technology will help biomedical researchers move their research forward quicker and have a direct impact of the speed of new therapies.
First autonomous AI radiologist approved in the European Union.

Adaptive Robotics

Robots that use artificial intelligence and other technologies to sense their environment and make the appropriate decisions.
Johns Hopkins robot performs the first laparoscopic surgery on pigs without human help.

Drones

Alphabet's Wing drones completed over 200,000 deliveries last year and looks toward supermarket partnerships.
AirSeed Technologies has planted 50,000 trees with drones so far.
Everdrone drone delivered a lightweight automated external defibrillator to doctor to save mans' life for first time.
First lung delivery by drone for transplant completed by United Therapeutics subsidiary Unither Bioelectronics.

eVTOL (electric vertical take-off and landing) / Flying Cars

Over 100 eVTOL companies have been formed and are moving forward with their designs and testing.

Virtual Reality (VR) & Augmented Reality (AR)

Metaverse (graphically rich virtual space where people can work, learn, play, shop and socialize) focused companies are increasing in number and expanding their offerings.
Dreamscape (backed by Steven Spielberg) creates online and digitally enhanced education, and has partnered with Arizona State University (ASU) to deliver fully immersive VR learning systems to the ASU community and beyond, starting with avatar driven VR experiences to both campus-based and online courses in biology. Most recently ASU students created a virtual time travel experience.

Additional technologies that are expanding their capabilities and growing fast include:

Genomic Sequencing
Energy Storage
Block Chain Technologies

These technologies and many more will be directly impacting your world in ways you might not realize, particularly as healthcare is implementing these technologies now. Learn more about them, and see what if any you want to incorporate into your life now!

What it is: The CURE® Media Group's Educated Patient® Kidney Cancer Summit Frontline Therapy Panel. This 30 minute panel discussion answered patient questions about therapeutic options, surgical approaches and resources for those with kidney cancer.

They emphasized the importance of the patients’ medical team working together, including the urologist, surgical oncologist, and medical oncologist, to determine the most appropriate treatment plan.

Resources Available:
The Cure® Media Group has additional panel discussions available that cover the following topics:

The Kidney Cancer Association (KCA) also has many resources for patients, caregivers, and medical professionals including a Just Diagnosed Toolkit. The toolkit is split into 5 parts, with key features:

Learn the Basics

Staging, types of kidney cancer

Find a Specialist for Accurate Diagnosis

Includes a database of NCI-Designated Cancer Centers as well as information on how testing is done

Explore Your Treatment Options

Extensive information on treatment options and a guide to understanding your treatment team of providers

Manage Side Effects

Information on common side effects associated with treatment options

Get Support

Support resources including the KCA Patient Liaison, Online Support Community, and informational Video Library

The toolkit also includes a helpful list of questions to ask your doctor.

Why it's important: If you or a family member have been diagnosed with kidney cancer, the information from this Cure® panel discussion, the KCA resources and the additional Cure webinars can provide valuable information as you navigate learning about all the different options available.

What it is: The FDA recently granted 510k clearance to Versi(TM) PD, a portable peritoneal dialysis (PD) system from Fresenius Medical Care North America (FMCNA).

The Versi(TM) PD is quieter and smaller than currently available peritoneal dialysis systems and can be used in both home and clinical settings.

Versi(TM) PD is connected to the Kinexus Therapy Management Platform that allows clinicians to remotely monitor and connect with patients. FMCNA plans to have a limited rollout this year and hopes to have Versi(TM) PD widely available by 2023.

Why it's important: If you are currently performing PD during the day and are considering transitioning to overnight PD, this portable PD system might be a good option for you as it was designed to improve sleep quality with its almost silent operation and fewer disruptive alarms when in night mode. Check with your nephrologist and care team to determine if this is the right option for you or your family member.