World Kidney Day: 9th March 2017
World Kidney Day, recognised annually on the second Thursday of March, is a global initiative aiming to raise awareness of the importance of kidney health, as well as the impact they have on our overall health. The kidneys are vital life-sustaining organs, which perform a variety of functions to keep the blood clean and chemically balanced. Kidneys are responsible for the following:
- They filter the blood to get rid of waste products of metabolism
- They keep the electrolytes (sodium and potassium being the most important) and water content of the body constant
- They secrete a number of essential hormones1
At Randox Biosciences, we are dedicated to the development of innovative diagnostic tests to improve patient care and diagnostics worldwide. This World Kidney Day, we are delighted to introduce to you our new test, effectively designed to detect Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), the world’s 18th leading cause of death2.
CKD, is a phrase that embraces the majority of renal conditions and is used to describe abnormal kidney function that occurs for a minimum period of 3 months. CKD is significantly difficult to diagnose at an early stage when treatment methods would be at their most effective.
Affecting 1 in 10 people, CKD usually gets worse slowly, and symptoms may not appear until the kidneys are badly damaged, highlighting the need for innovative tests to effectively diagnose these conditions. Standard testing for CKD is commonly detected through measuring the levels of a waste product called creatinine, however, this has been shown to be more effective in relatively advanced cases of CKD3. The fact that early detection is critical in diagnosing and treating CKD, has encouraged Randox Biosciences to developed our Chronic Kidney Disease Arrays l and ll*.
Our new test, utilised on our proprietary Biochip Array Technology (BAT) simultaneously and quantitatively detects multiple early biomarkers associated with kidney damage to allow earlier intervention for treatment, as well as the prevention of further kidney damage. Additionally, early detection also provides those diagnosed with the opportunity to alter their lifestyle in order to improve their kidney and overall health, whether that is through the reduction of salt in their diet, increased physical activity and alcohol limitation3.
Eibhlin McCole, Immunoassay R&D Team Leader at Randox Biosciences, commented;
My team and I have developed this early-stage screening array for CKD due to the high and rising prevalence of Chronic Kidney Disease around the world as well as the numerous adverse health consequences. Our aim is to improve diagnostics and health worldwide and as early detection is crucial in effectively treating CKD, we have developed arrays that detect multiple biomarkers associated with early chronic kidney-related damage or disease from a single sample to improve patient treatment outcomes.
Join us on Twitter and LinkedIn this World Kidney Day to help raise awareness of the importance of our kidneys and encourage mindfulness of the symptoms to look out for. Don’t forget to use the hashtags, #WorldKidneyDay #WKD2017
If you would like further information regarding our Chronic Kidney Arrays l & ll, please contact us via info@randoxbiosciences.com
1-Kidney Research UK
2-National Kidney Foundation
3-NHS Choices
*for research use only