As of now, people with malfunctioning kidneys have to wait for ages to come across a suitable donor - the recipient's system has to be compatible with that of the donor - at costs that are variable (The actual cost of the surgery hovers around Rs. 21/2 lakhs but the donor's fees, as per local rates, are anything between Rs.7 to 10 lakhs) and not affordable by the poor. Till the identification and fixing of the donor, the patients go for dialysis at a frequency dictated by the level of deterioration of their kidneys.
In fact, I must let you on to this anecdote to tell you about my first sight of a person with failed kidneys. It was during the summer hols of '67 when I was in class VII. My grandfather had taken me along with him to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital to meet a good friend of his, the freedom fighter, Chovvara Parameswaran, whose kidneys were in a bad condition. I remember the old gentleman, with a plastic bag fastened around his waist, into which his urine was being outputted. His kind words still ring in my ears - after so many years - as I write this piece, "Son, you must follow good habits and never be like me, otherwise the results could be bad", pointing to the hanging bag........ His grandson, Ajith, was my classmate in school and a good friend.
The biggest problem for a recipient is the long wait for a potential donor, even after which a suitable match remains elusive. The wretched dealings of the touts is better left unsaid but remains an impediment to an early closure, for sure.
Now, researchers have successfully altered patients' immune system to allow them to accept kidneys from any donor, in other words, from an incompatible donor!
The researchers, headed by Dr. Dorry Segev, of the National Kidney Foundation of the US headquartered at New York estimate the following:-
(a) 100,000 people are on waiting lists for a kidney transplant.
(b) About a half of this population have antibodies that will attack a transplanted organ.
(c) About 20% are so sensitive that finding a compatible organ is all but impossible and hence
'Desensitisation' was a viable option.
The method known as 'Desensitisation' involves the following:-
(a) Filtering of the antibodies out of a patient's blood.
(b) The patient, then, is given an infusion of other antibodies to provide some protection
while the immune system regenerates its own antibodies.
(c) The regenerated antibodies - for reasons unknown - are less likely to attack the new organ.
(d) However, in the event of the regenerated antibodies opposing the new organ, the patient is
treated with drugs to destroy white blood cells that make antibodies inimical towards the
new organ.
The process is:-
(a) Expensive, costing $30,000.
(b) Uses drugs not approved for this purpose and
(c) The entire cost of a kidney transplant works out to $100,000.
Tailpiece.
Interesting medical advancements that will benefit the common man, eventually, when the costs would become affordable.
In fact, I must let you on to this anecdote to tell you about my first sight of a person with failed kidneys. It was during the summer hols of '67 when I was in class VII. My grandfather had taken me along with him to the Thiruvananthapuram Medical College Hospital to meet a good friend of his, the freedom fighter, Chovvara Parameswaran, whose kidneys were in a bad condition. I remember the old gentleman, with a plastic bag fastened around his waist, into which his urine was being outputted. His kind words still ring in my ears - after so many years - as I write this piece, "Son, you must follow good habits and never be like me, otherwise the results could be bad", pointing to the hanging bag........ His grandson, Ajith, was my classmate in school and a good friend.
The biggest problem for a recipient is the long wait for a potential donor, even after which a suitable match remains elusive. The wretched dealings of the touts is better left unsaid but remains an impediment to an early closure, for sure.
Now, researchers have successfully altered patients' immune system to allow them to accept kidneys from any donor, in other words, from an incompatible donor!
The researchers, headed by Dr. Dorry Segev, of the National Kidney Foundation of the US headquartered at New York estimate the following:-
(a) 100,000 people are on waiting lists for a kidney transplant.
(b) About a half of this population have antibodies that will attack a transplanted organ.
(c) About 20% are so sensitive that finding a compatible organ is all but impossible and hence
'Desensitisation' was a viable option.
The method known as 'Desensitisation' involves the following:-
(a) Filtering of the antibodies out of a patient's blood.
(b) The patient, then, is given an infusion of other antibodies to provide some protection
while the immune system regenerates its own antibodies.
(c) The regenerated antibodies - for reasons unknown - are less likely to attack the new organ.
(d) However, in the event of the regenerated antibodies opposing the new organ, the patient is
treated with drugs to destroy white blood cells that make antibodies inimical towards the
new organ.
The process is:-
(a) Expensive, costing $30,000.
(b) Uses drugs not approved for this purpose and
(c) The entire cost of a kidney transplant works out to $100,000.
Tailpiece.
Interesting medical advancements that will benefit the common man, eventually, when the costs would become affordable.
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