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Chemical In Blood May Explain Susceptibility To Bladder Pain
A marker in the blood of both cats and humans that was identified in a recent study might signal both species" susceptibility for a painful bladder disorder called interstitial cystitis, a condition that is often difficult to diagnose.
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California State Senators Join Forces To Promote "Patient Safety Act"
Senator Sam Aanestad (R-Grass Valley) and Senator Gloria Negrete McLeod (D-Chino) are teaming up in an act of bi-partisan cooperation to serve as joint authors for legislation designed to improve patient safety in California by reforming Medical Peer Review. This is the process where a committee of physicians examines the work of a peer and determines whether the physician under review has met accepted standards of care in rendering medical services.
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Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndromes: Clinical, Urodynamic, And Urothelial Observations
UroToday.com - Patients with pain can present with various symptom complexes that include interstitial cystitis, vulvodynia, irritable bowel syndrome, myofascial pain or various causes of dyspareunia but when carefully evaluated, the majority have very similar findings. No matter what their primary complaint might be over 70% of patients will have hypertonic pelvic floor dysfunction and/or pain as well as a component of at least one visceral pain syndrome such as interstitial cystitis (the most common), chronic pelvic pain or irritable bowel syndrome.
Endocrinology

Sodium Bicarbonate Appears To Slow Progression Of Chronic Kidney Disease

A daily dose of sodium bicarbonate - baking soda, already used for baking, cleaning, acid indigestion, sunburn, and more - slows the decline of kidney function in some patients with advanced chronic kidney disease (CKD), reports an upcoming study in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). "This cheap and simple strategy also improves patients" nutritional status, and has the potential of translating into significant economic, quality of life, and clinical outcome benefits," comments Magdi Yaqoob, MD (Royal London Hospital). The study included 134 patients with advanced CKD and low bicarbonate levels, also called metabolic acidosis. One group received a small daily dose of sodium bicarbonate in tablet form, in addition to their usual care. For this group, the rate of decline in kidney function was greatly reduced - about two-thirds slower than in patients. "In fact, in patients taking sodium bicarbonate, the rate of decline in kidney function was similar to the normal age-related decline," says Yaqoob. Rapid progression of kidney disease occurred in just nine percent of patients taking sodium bicarbonate, compared to 45 percent of the other group. Patients taking sodium bicarbonate were also less likely to develop end-stage renal disease (ESRD) requiring dialysis. Patients taking sodium bicarbonate also had improvement in several measures of nutrition. Although their sodium levels went up, this didn"t lead to any problems with increased blood pressure. Low bicarbonate levels are common in patients with CKD and can lead to a wide range of other problems. "This is the first randomized controlled study of its kind," says Yaqoob. "A simple remedy like sodium bicarbonate (baking soda), when used appropriately, can be very effective." The researchers note some important limitations of their study - there was no placebo group and the researchers were aware of which patients were receiving sodium bicarbonate. "Our results will need validation in a multicenter study," says Yaqoob. Other authors were Ione de Brito-Ashurst, RD, Mira Varaganum, PhD, and Martin J. Raftery, MD (William Harvey Research Institute and Barts and the London NHS Trust, London). The authors reported no financial disclosures. The study entitled, Bicarbonate Supplementation Slows Progression of CKD and Improves Nutritional Status appears online at http://jasn.asnjournals.org/, doi 10.1681/ASN.2008111205. Shari Leventhal American Society of Nephrology


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