Database Expedites Organ Donation
By Patrick S. Lahue, Contributing Writer
Wednesday, March 15, 2006
The Harvard Crimson

"An 'optimized matching system,' similar to those used for making airline reservations or pairing online dating service users, is now being used to aid kidney transplants as a result of research by a team of Harvard economists."

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Hereditary Nephritis
Hereditary Nephritis (HN) is a problem of growing concern in the United States and throughout the world, according to the Hereditary Nephritis Foundation and to researchers at the University of Utah. HN is a group of inherited kidney diseases. The different varieties of HN have different patterns of inheritance, and different rates of progression. The kidney disease, manifested by microscopic traces of blood cells and proteins in urine, is present and generally mild at birth. Especially in males, HN gradually progresses to kidney failure [end-stage renal disease or ESRD] that is fatal unless the person receives dialysis treatment or kidney transplantation. In some kindreds, affected males suffer ESRD as teenagers, while it happens at 30-40 years of age in other kindreds. Some kindreds with HN also have some combination of hereditary progressive malformation of the lens of the eye [lenticonus], other unusual eye problems, and deafness.

Hereditary Nephritis Gene Test

Hereditary Nephritis Foundation
1390 West 6690 South, #202H
Murray, Utah 84123-6914
Phone: (801) 262-5901
Mr. Kay R. Johnson, Coordinator