Anytime we hear about someone who suffers from a chronic disease, it’s easy to use the disease as a label to describe the person: “There's so and so, she has cancer,” or “He’s a diabetic.” Everyone is guilty of doing this at one time or another, and I have noticed that many doctors unknowingly make this mistake, too. READ MORE >>

Whenever the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Komets professional hockey team took to the ice in December, they played to win—both to improve their standing in the ECHL league and to raise money to help kidney patients across the country. READ MORE >>

In the United States, chronic kidney disease affects racial and ethnic minority populations including American Indians, African-Americans, and Hispanic Americans at higher rates than whites. In North Carolina, health disparities are even greater in the southeastern counties where the rates of kidney disease are among the highest in the country. READ MORE >>

Each November we salute family caregivers, who dedicate countless hours providing care to their loved ones. We recently asked our Facebook audience to share one secret about being a caregiver. This infographic highlights some of their responses. READ MORE >>

A team of scientists, engineers and clinicians from across the United States is collaborating on a fast-track development to create an implantable kidney the size of a coffee cup to treat end-stage renal disease (ESRD), which affects more than 600,000 people in the United States. READ MORE >>

I found out I had high blood pressure when I was in college. I knew it was serious, and I knew I needed to take medication to control it. But the prescription medication was expensive, and I couldn’t really afford it, so I stopped taking it. I guess I was in denial . . . for more than 10 years. But my life was pretty normal and most of the time I felt OK. Until 2008. READ MORE >>

A simple question—“What do you wish others understood about living with kidney disease?”—unleashed a torrent of comments on our Facebook page recently. Kidney disease itself is often invisible until the late stages; once it progresses to kidney failure, patients need dialysis or a transplant to live. People living with kidney disease and kidney failure tell us they often feel that others do not understand what they are going through, both physically and emotionally. READ MORE >>

In recognition of November as National Family Caregivers Month, Kidney Today sat down with Keith McDonald, AKF’s 2014 Caregiver of the Year, to learn about his experience as the primary caregiver for his wife, Rameika, who is living with kidney disease and undergoes dialysis three times a week. READ MORE >>

UNOS is adjusting its kidney allocation policy to better account for the biologic needs of people with immune system sensitivity and maximize the use of kidneys. In his Kidney Today blog post, Richard Formica, M.D., chair of the OPTN/UNOS Kidney Transplantation Committee, explains the new criteria. READ MORE >>

Among minorities, the need for kidney transplants is disproportionately high, so donations are essential. Anthony Brown, a patient-advocate with American Kidney Fund, shared his story about donating one of his kidneys to his mother last year on World Kidney Day. Anthony is one of many inspirational advocates in the American Kidney Fund network who has donated a kidney to a friend or family member. READ MORE >>

It’s National Minority Donor Awareness Week! The need for organ donors, especially among ethnic minorities, has never been greater. Today, more than 100,000 people are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant in the United States—of which more than 63 percent are ethnic minorities. READ MORE >>

Thomas Jones learned about the connection between high blood pressure and kidney disease the hard way. He’s made it his personal mission to make sure everyone in his community understands that high blood pressure can lead to kidney disease. READ MORE >>