The following is where to find further information relating to articles that appeared in issue 23 of Kidney Matters.
Pages 4-5: Looking after your welfare
Managing health is a top priority for people living with kidney disease, but the cost-of-living crisis has made this much more difficult. So, Kidney Care UK has teamed up with NHS Wales and Wales & West Utilities in a pioneering new project offering specialist benefits advice and wellbeing support to dialysis patients in Wales.
Page 15: Let’s talk about organ donation
With the number of people waiting for a transplant in the UK at a nine-year high, this year’s Organ Donation Week was more important than ever in raising awareness. More than 7,000 people are waiting for a transplant – eight out of 10 of those waiting for a kidney transplant. Kidney Care UK met MPs to urge the government to do more to publicise life-saving transplantation.
Pages 16-19: A difficult balance - BK nephropathy: a potential complication after transplantation
BK is a common virus that infects most people by the age of about 10 years. A healthy immune system keeps the virus in check, but BK can be reactivated or ‘wake up’ when the immune system is suppressed, potentially damaging a transplanted kidney.
Pages 32-33: My sister’s amazing mitzvah
In Judaism, a mitzvah is a good deed – and what more precious good deed than the gift of a new lease of life – which is what Tony de Swarte’s sister did when she donated a kidney to her big brother.
Pages 34-35: Should I accept a kidney from a hepatitis C-positive donor?
Until 2019, these kidneys were unlikely to be offered to people waiting for a transplant. However, advances in the treatment of hepatitis C (HCV) mean that you may be asked to consider accepting a kidney from a deceased donor who has tested positive for HCV.