| Join AAKP! |
 | | Check Out the New Features of AAKP
My Health™ |  |
AAKP My Health™ now offers new features to help users take charge of their health care. Users can now:
· Receive appointment reminders by email
· Print emergency contact cards
AAKP My Health™ is a free, unique section of the AAKP website, www.aakp.org, that provides you with online tools to be the leader in your health care. With AAKP My Health™, you can:
· Track your lab results
· Log your medications
· List your healthcare team members
· Prepare information for doctor visits
· Test your kidney knowledge
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| Chain of Kidney Transplants Gives 14 Patients New Life | Members of a human "domino chain" met for the first time June, representing most of the 28 organ donors and patients involved in a world-record series of linked kidney transplants. Many of the patients were ailing from kidney disease but had been unable to find a match in a kidney donated by family or from a national registry, which has a waiting list of 82,000 people.
Doctors from four hospitals, including Georgetown University Hospital and Washington Hospital Center, arranged the series of linked transplants. They matched up patients who had willing living donors -- such as family members -- who were not compatible with them but were a good match with other patients.
The chain began when Jennifer Whitford, a 24-year-old mother of two from Sebring, Fla., died in an accident and her family donated her kidney. Click here to read the rest of the story. |
Early Registration for AAKP Annual Convention Still Open
Don't delay registering for the 37th Annual AAKP Convention. This year's Convention takes place Sept. 2 - 4, at the Marriott Waterside Hotel & Marina in Tampa, FL, and features educational sessions, exciting social events and an exhibit hall filled with renal companies rea  dy to show patients the latest products and treatment options available.
Early registration is still available. Attendees may purchase the full Convention package, which starts at $90 for patients and family members, or one-day registrations, which start at $25 per day. The Convention package includes three days of educational sessions, a tote bag, souvenir t-shirt and tickets to the First-Time Attendees' Luncheon, Welcoming Ceremonies, and Annual Banquet. For more information about the AAKP 37th Annual Convention, call AAKP at (800) 749-AAKP or visit the AAKP website. | |
| Living Kidney Donors Network Workshops |
The Living Kidney Donors Network (LKDN) is offering an educational and communications training workshop. This Workshop educates people who need, or will need a kidney transplant so they understand the facts about live donation and have the skills to effectively communicate the information to others. The benefits of a kidney from a living donor, as opposed to one from a deceased donor, are indisputable. If you are apprehensive about talking to others about your situation, or would like to learn more about pursuing a living donor kidney transplant, this Workshop is for you! Workshops are being held on Saturday, July 17 from 9:00 - 11:30 am at Advocate-Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, IL, and Wednesday, July 21 from 6:00 - 8:30 pm at the Loop location, 155 N. Wacker Dr., Chicago, IL. Class size is limited so please register by calling 312-473-3772. For more information on the workshops, please go to www.lkdn.org or email workshop@lkdn.org. |
| Adolescents with Kidney Transplant Suffer Psychological Impacts |  A new study describes the psychological profile of adolescents who have received kidney transplants and compares them to those of healthy peers. The findings reveal a significantly higher frequency of psychiatric conditions (depression, phobia, ADHD), educational impairment, and social isolation among adolescents who had undergone a transplant. The study along with the results appear in Pediatric Transplantation.
In the transplant group studied, 65 percent were diagnosed with a lifetime psychiatric disorder, compared to 37.5 percent in the control group. Transplant recipients also showed significantly more mood disorders than the control group, nearly twice the frequency of anxiety disorders and more behavioral disorders. Furthermore, young adults who grew up with a chronic or life-threatening disease, kidney patients have shown definate delay in independent behavior. In other words, 37.8 percent of transplant recipients studied had borderline/clinical social competence and were more withdrawn and isolated than their peers. |
| Diet After Transplantation | One of the most difficult challenges for new dialysis patients is the overwhelming  amount of diet restrictions they need to follow. You may have heard at one time or another your doctor or dietitian say to you, "...limit your dairy products...take your binders...drink less fluid...stay away from potassium..." and the list goes on and on. If you are planning to have a kidney transplant or have recently had one, you are probably wondering if your diet will change. After a transplant, your diet still plays an important role. However, you will find that your transplant diet may be easier to follow and less restricted than the diet you were on during dialysis.
Many people have a better appetite after they get a transplant and often gain unwanted weight. In addition, certain anti-rejection medications may cause increased appetite, weight gain and fluid retention. The average amount of weight gain after a transplant is about 20 pounds. Click here for the rest of the story. |
| Order Your Artwork Greeting Cards! | |
You can now send a greeting card to friends or family member that also features a special message about kidney disease. AAKP now sales all occassions greeting cards created by kidney patients and their family members.
Send a greeting card to encourage a friend. Wish them a happy birthday or send one just because. A greeting card from AAKP also helps raise awareness about kidney disease. Please visit www.aakp.org to preview the cards and place your order. |
| Men and Women Benefit from Gender Specific Kidney Transplant |
The gender of donor and recipient plays a larger role in kidney transplants than previously assumed. Female donor kidneys do not function as well in men - due to their smaller size. Women have a higher risk of rejecting a male donor kidney. Therefore, in the future, gender should be considered more in the allocation of donor kidneys, say researchers from Basel and Heidelberg.
The researchers analyzed data from almost 200,000 organ recipients who received a kidney transplant between 1985 and 2004. Overall, transplanting a female kidney was less successful than a male kidney. This is attributed to the fact that due to their smaller size, female kidneys have fewer nephrons - the active components of the kidneys that filter urine. |
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