LLUMC gives politicians insight into kidney disease

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LLUMC gives politicians insight into kidney disease
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 08/10/2009 05:57:18 PM PDT

LOMA LINDA - Political leaders sent key aides Monday to explore the world of kidney disease and treatment at Loma Linda University Medical Center.

Tours of the LLUMC adult and children's outpatient dialysis units were part of Kidney Disease Awareness and Education Day.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Rep. Joe Baca, among others, sent staff members to gather information for possible legislation.

There are 58,376 Californians living with end-stage renal disease and approximately 66 percent receive dialysis either at a dialysis center or at home.

About 28 percent of people with end-stage renal disease receive a kidney transplant, according to the American Nephrology Nurses' Association.

Andrea Mariscal, 16, one of the 41 outpatient dialysis patients at Loma Linda University Children's Hospital, is nervously looking forward to the start of her junior year Wednesday at Redlands High School.

Recently, she was diagnosed with end-stage renal disease and recognizes that her energy level and endurance are impaired because of her nonfunctioning kidneys.

She is excited about taking a biology class and wants to advance her understanding of life science from what she has learned about her condition.

Andrea said she hopes to get a new kidney, perhaps from her mother, who lives in Mexico.

Loma Linda also treats 183 adult dialysis patients, most in a free-standing kidney center, adjacent to the
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medical center.

Renal health professionals would like to see a change in Medicare's three-year limit on payment for drugs to prevent rejection of a transplanted kidney.

Although the government won't pay to keep a successful transplant going, it will pay for dialysis and another transplant if the first one fails, said Dr. Shobha Sahney, chief of pediatric nephrology.

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