PKD Foundation of Canada Launches New Chapter in Healthcare Hub: Hamilton, Ontario

Online, June 26, 2011 (Newswire.com) - "PKD", a common, often fatal, yet generally unfamiliar chronic kidney disease, is becoming a less frightening diagnosis with continued study and growing public awareness.

Offering support and education to polycystic kidney disease (PKD) patients, their friends and families in the Hamilton/Guelph area, The PKD Foundation of Canada (PKDFOC) is pleased to introduce its brand new Hamilton Chapter on July 16.

At the inaugural meeting, which is open to the public free of charge, Dr. Alistair Ingram M.D., FRCP(C), an esteemed Nephrology researcher, will present: Potential Future Therapies for PKD Based on New Knowledge of Pathogenesis.

"New therapies, both simple and complex, designed to slow or even stop cyst growth, are now being tested. We will review what these are, why they were chosen, and how they are doing so far," he explains.

Dr. Ingram is currently the Director of the Division of Nephrology at McMaster University, a 14 member Division that provides care for 650 chronic dialysis patients, performs 100 transplants per year and follows 1000 transplanted patients. He started practice at McMaster in 1996 and became a full Professor of Medicine in 2009.

This is the first of a series of support/education meetings, taking place from 2pm to 4pm every other month (July, Sept., Nov., etc.) in the Fellowship Hall of the First Unitarian Church of Hamilton.

Executive Director, Jeff Robertson, will attend and speak about the grass-roots origins and important mission of the PKDFOC. Shiona Mackenzie-Morrison, Hamilton Chapter Coordinator, and Carrie Manson, Coordinator of the Hamilton Chapter's upcoming first annual PKD Walk in Guelph also will be there.

PKD is a genetic disorder characterized by the development of numerous cysts in the kidneys. Some 50% of people with the most common type of PKD progress to kidney failure (end-stage renal disease). PKD can cause liver cysts and problems in other organs also. Currently, there is no cure for PKD.

The new Hamilton Chapter offers local support, and fundraising for PKD research. PKD Foundation Chapters and the volunteers who lead them, are the backbone of the PKD community. Since its first $30,000 research grant awarded in 1999, the PKD FOC has granted a total of $162,000 in 10 years and budgeted grants for 2010 / 2011 of $65,000.

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