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Walk to raise money for Kidney Research UK


briggaman

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I am going to be taking part in the London Bridges Walk on July 8th this year. I'm doing this to raise money for Kidney Research UK.

I was lucky enough to receive a kidney transplant myself back in 2007. This transplant won't last forever though and I will require another transplant in the future. The work that Kidney Research UK carry out is very important to myself and many others. Maybe someday they will be able to stop renal failure. Despite the fact that this may not be in my lifetime, it could be in the lifetime of my future children.

The walk is seven miles and is basically a chance for people to raise money for this great charity. I have set up my own page to raise funds and you can get to it here. I have set a target of raising £1,000. This is a lot of money and I am doubtful that I will be able to reach the target in such a short space of time. However, I am determined to attempt to do so.

If any of you could please sponsor me then it would be greatly appreciated. Your money will have a long term impact on the lives of those affected by kidney issues. It will also help raise awareness, as many people have problems with their kidneys yet they are unaware.

Even if you can only donate £1, it would be greatly appreciated. If you do donate and live in the UK then please also add Gift Aid onto whatever you donate. Gift Aid does not come out of your pocket, yet it adds on an extra 25% to whatever you donate. This all adds up.

Thanks in advance and please share this page with friends and family that you think may be interested. Every donation helps and could very well end up saving lives.

Here is a brief description of what Kidney Research UK actually do:

Kidney Research UK was founded in 1961 and is the leading UK charity dedicated to funding research aimed at finding better treatments, and ultimately a cure, for kidney disease. We have over £10.1 million invested in research at any one time, awarding grants to doctors, nurses and researchers across the UK. We also award grants to kidney patients so that they can cope with the unexpected costs of their condition, and campaign for better patient access to renal services and are dedicated to raising awareness of kidney disease.

We operate a kidney health information service to answer the questions kidney patients inevitably have about their condition, and a range of web-based literature is available on various kidney diseases.

The lives of over three million people in the UK today are under threat from chronic kidney disease. This number is set to grow as the population ages, placing greater strain on the system. Currently only one in four people receive the kidney transplant they need. 90% of people, on the transplant list are waiting for a kidney - that’s around 7,000 people.

Registered charity No. 252892

Charity address:

Kidney Research UK

Nene Hall

Lynch Wood Park

Peterborough

PE2 6FZ

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  • 2 weeks later...

Evening folks. Thanks to those that have taken a look at this thread and mmy fundraising page. I'm only early in the whole process of getting this thing going and have yet to really push it.

I have only had two online donations thus far and it would be greatly appreciated if any of you could donate even a small amount, to help me reach my target. Even £1 would mean so much.

It's the first time I've really done anything like this so I'm not great at pushing fundraising. If any of you could provide me with any pointers then that would also be great. Obviously I will be posting pictures of the walk once the event has taken place and will keep you all updated. I realise it's not a run or anything so it may seem easy. However, the main point is the charity I am trying to raise money for.

The money raised will help with further developments, such as the following:

Revolutionary new transplant procedure could help thousands

Scientists working for Kidney Research UK have developed a revolutionary new procedure that could improve the prospects of thousands of renal patients by increasing the success rate and longevity of kidney transplants, while also enabling more organs from marginal donors to be used for transplantation.

The project is the first of its kind anywhere in the world and has led to the development of a process called normothermic perfusion - a form of resuscitation which allows doctors to improve the quality of kidneys taken from deceased organ donors.

By flushing donor kidneys with oxygenated blood prior to transplantation, normothermic perfusion reverses the damage done to organs by storing them at low temperatures - optimizing early graft function so that they work better immediately after transplantation.

With kidneys that function well early on proven to last longer, normothermic perfusion could not only reduce rejection rates but also increase the lifespan of transplanted kidneys, which currently only last around 10 to 15 years.

Professor Mike Nicholson, lead researcher for Kidney Research UK, said: “Normothermic perfusion allows us to gradually reintroduce blood flow to donor kidneys outside of the body and in a controlled way.

“This reverses much of the damage caused by cold storage, while offering us a unique opportunity to treat the organs with anti-inflammatory agents and other drugs before going on to complete the transplant procedure.

“In short, we’re able repair and revive damaged kidneys in a way that would otherwise be impossible.”

Early results from the project are extremely encouraging with only one of 17 kidneys treated using normothermic perfusion showing signs of delayed graft function after transplantation.

Delayed graft function is a common feature of kidney transplantation and can significantly compromise the long-term success of a transplant. It is not unusual for delayed graft function to occur in up to 50 per cent of kidney transplants.

Normothermic perfusion also has the potential to expand the organ donor pool and reduce the transplant waiting list by utilising more kidneys from marginal donors - people who have suffered uncontrolled cardiac death, as well as elderly donors and those with diabetes, hypertension or renal insufficiency.

“There’s often great reluctance among health professionals to use kidneys from marginal donors, as there’s no way to establish how much damage has been caused to the organs and whether or not they will work,” explained professor Nicholson.

“As a result, these organs are often discarded as a precaution, rather than taking the risk of using them for transplants.

“Normothermic perfusion allows us to perform a crucial viability check on these kidneys, pumping them with blood to confirm whether or not they function adequately enough to be used for transplantation.”

At present, 90 per cent of all patients on the UK’s transplant waiting list are in need of a kidney, while fewer than 3,000 kidney transplants are carried out each year. With the kidneys of half of all uncontrolled cardiac death donors alone discarded last year, normothermic perfusion could cut the transplant waiting list by more than 10 per cent.

Reducing the transplant waiting list would also have profound implications for the NHS, which spends £3.66 billion of its annual budget on treating kidney failure.

The average cost of keeping a patient on dialysis for one year is currently £30,800, while a full kidney transplant incurs a one off cost of around £42,000 per patient, with maintenance costs of £6,500 per year thereafter. This means the cost benefit of kidney transplantation compared to dialysis over a period of ten years is £241,000 per patient, or £24,100 for each year a patient’s kidney continues to function.

Charles Kernahan, Chief Executive of Kidney Research UK, said: “This project represents a major step in the fight against kidney disease. Although transplantation is by no means a cure for kidney failure, it is by far the best treatment method available to us at this time.

“In developing a process that not only maximises the quality of kidneys taken from marginal donors but could also lead to hundreds more transplants being carried out each year, our researchers have given fresh hope to the 7,000 people in the UK currently waiting for a kidney.”

Kidney Research UK is now appealing for more funding in order to take normothermic perfusion on to clinical trials.

Thanks in advance and I'll keep this updated with any further news.

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  • 1 month later...

Up to £131 now (including Gift Aid). Any donations would be greatly appreciated.

I'm thinking of doing the Ben Nevis Challenge aswell later in the year. Hopefully I'll be able to tie the two together and raise funds for them on the same page.

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