Right now The Harvard Stem Cell Institute is working on a breakthrough cure to repair
damaged nephrons and restore kidney function using stem cells
And researchers from the University of California are testing a bioartificial kidney as a permanent
solution to chronic kidney disease If you think one of these new treatments could
help you in this video I'll show you how to get them before anyone else
Hello how are your kidneys doing this is Katherine welcome to 00Kidney - don't forget to like
and subscribe Some of the latest breakthrough cures for
kidney disease are really promising One of the most promising is GKT831 from Genkyotex
a NOX-inhibitor that can prevent certain enzymes responsible for scarring and protein leaking
from damaging the kidneys Actually being tested in a clinical trial on humans GKT831 was already
proven capable of preventing the progression of diabetic kidney disease
Stem cells studies are very promising too since this kind of therapy is already being
used to successfully treat cancer and according to recent news cure HIV
For treating kidney disease mesenchymal stem cells are taken from the bone marrow
Researchers are then directly administering these stem cells to the patients kidneys to
repair kidney damage In another study scientists are using a mini dialysis machine to expose
the patient blood to stem cells These clinical trials are still ongoing and recruiting volunteers
A different project from University of California is testing a bioartificial kidney as a permanent
solution to chronic kidney disease The goal is to create an artificial organ
to completely replace the human kidney giving the patient an alternative to dialysis and
transplant Again these new treatments are still not approved
by the FDA and are not available to the public Yet
Every time I talk about these breakthrough treatments in my videos I keep getting the
same questions in comment section How can I get this treatment When is this
gonna be available How do I get this Now I'm here to give the most complete answer
I can to the people in need of these treatments This is a bit more complicated than it may
seem Obtaining a treatment not available to the public may not always be possible But
there could be a chance Let's start from the beginning
These treatments are being tested or are going to be tested on actual patients during a clinical
trial And some of these clinical trials are actually recruiting candidates
So if you suffer from kidney disease and you are wondering how to get the latest treatments
available participating in one of these clinical trials could be what you are looking for
There are hundreds of clinical trials going-on right now And many of these are actually recruiting
patients If you are thinking about participating in
a clinical trial in this video I'll show you all you need to know to actually get into
one Question: should you participate in a clinical
trial When it comes to clinical trials many patients
are daunted by a process they don't fully understand
They are afraid of becoming guinea pigs for some dangerous research
Still clinical trials can be a way to receive the best of care available and the most up
to date treatments The treatment is usually free for the patients and you are even helping
improving kidney disease treatments for everyone Has your doctor ever informed you about the
possibility of volunteering for a clinical trial
It is unusual for general practitioners to ask their patients to take part in a clinical
trial But not impossible Many patients feel scared and alone especially
if they have just been diagnosed with a disease as scary as kidney disease
It doesn't occur to them that they can participate in a clinical trial to get a better treatment
Yet this could be a great way of taking charge of their own health
So why nobody ever talks about this Well there are a couple of things worth knowing
about clinical trials First how does a clinical trial work
When a new treatment or drug is being developed it has to be tested in a controlled environment
to understand if it is safe and if it has advantages over the existing treatments
A clinical trial does just this It studies a treatment or a drug testing it on people
The aim is to understand how safe and helpful the new treatment is
The new therapy is evaluated against the best treatments available
The hope is for it to be at least as safe and effective as currently available therapies
or possibly more effective For a new treatment to be even considered
for a clinical test on people it has to be firstly researched in the laboratory and on
animals Risk and benefits need to be carefully evaluated
before testing a new drug or therapy on humans Only the treatments that actually work are
further evaluated in a small group of humans and then in larger clinical trials
Second Not everyone can participate in a clinical trial
These studies are designed to meet a set of research criteria and they need patients with
specific conditions and symptoms Usually patients are required to undergo certain
tests to confirm their eligibility as a candidate The requirements varies greatly so the best
option for someone wanting to participate in a trial would be to evaluate several studies
Then they could find one suitable for them Third What are the benefits for the patient
Clinical trials are not guaranteed to give you a result or a cure but there is a chance
they will And for a lot of people a chance is a lot
better than no chance at all
Ok Let's say that you actually want to take the risk and participate in a clinical trial
How do you find one that is suitable for you The easiest way would be to browse the online
database on the website clinicaltrialsgov Here you can sort clinical trials by disease
by country and by city You can also see which studies are actually recruiting patients and
for what purpose and get info on what kind of requirements they are going to need
Usually first contact will be made by your doctor so be sure to get them involved if
you think you can meet the criteria and the treatment would be helpful for you
And be sure to keep following me here on 00Kidney to stay updated about the latest treatments
and researches How Subscribe and tap the notification bell on your screen to get the notifications
This is all for today If you liked this video please like and leave a comment Thank you
for watching