I saw an article in The Straits Times, a Singaporean newspaper, which says there is promising research on a protein (interleukin-11) that may be able to repair damaged kidneys.
Patients with kidney failure may be able to reverse the damage, if a new treatment is proven to be as good in humans as it is in mice. Safety trials in humans will start in 2023, and if all goes as well, clinical trials in patients will begin in the next two to three years.
That is amazing news. It seems like the average life of a live donor transplanted kidney is about fifteen years. If that is true, then I may need another kidney transplant when I turn seventy, or else go back on dialysis. I am hoping that there will be a medical breakthrough, either an artificial kidney, non-human kidney replacement, or this wonder protein.
Life with chronic diseases 