Home / Critical illness cover / - Kidney Failure
Background information
At the end of 1998, over 31,000 patients were suffering from end-stage renal failure.
About half of these received transplants, while the remainder were treated with dialysis.
(UK Renal Registry, 1999)
Definition
End stage renal failure presenting as chronic irreversible failure of both kidneys to function, as a result of which either regular renal dialysis or renal transplant is initiated.
What does this mean?
The function of the kidneys is to remove waste material from the bloodstream. If they do not work properly there can be a build up of waste material in the blood, which can become life threatening. The body can function perfectly well with only one kidney, but if both fail there will be a need for regular dialysis, to clean the blood artificially, or for a kidney transplant.
03 June 2008 17:01:30
Patients with operable pancreatic cancer could benefit from a combination of chemotherapy, biotherapy and radiotherapy, a new study has revealed.
The research conducted by the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute (UPCI) found that the combination of treatments was safe for patients.
Of the 14 patients that were treated, ten were considered eligible for surgery and several showed a significant decrease in the size of their tumors before surgery.
A. James Moser, M.D., lead author of the study and co-director of the Pancreatic Cancer Center, said that results from the first phase of the two phase trial were "encouraging".
Dr. Moser explained: "Patients who receive surgery for pancreatic cancer tend to have better outcomes than those who don't, and this treatment allows us to reduce the tumor size prior to surgery."
Those involved in the first phase of the study will be enrolled in a further stage to evaluate how effective the treatment has been.
29 July 2008 18:46:08
The British Heart Foundation (BHF) has urged TV viewers to watch a new two-minute advert to experience what it is actually like to have a heart attack.
The commercial is viewed from the perspective of the viewer experiencing a heart attack, and will first air on ITV1 on August 10th at 9.17pm.
Many people take out life insurance policies to plan for the worst case, and the BHF estimates that nearly a third of the 250,000 people suffering heart attacks in the UK every year will die before they reach the hospital.
The new campaign, which is being advertised on billboards around the country, aims to show people the early warning signs of a heart attack and urge them to call 999 immediately when they have symptoms.
Betty McBride, director of policy for communications at the BHF, said: "We're bringing heart attacks to life in living rooms across the UK because understanding how one could feel could mean the difference between life and death."
While it is a good idea for people at risk to take out UK life insurance, the Daily Mail also urges people to reduce the amount of salt used in cooking in order to reduce the chances of suffering a heart attack.
23 August 2007 16:32:55
Leading UK life insurance provider Friends Provident has again been praised for its financial strength.
The life cover firm has received an A+ rating from credit rating agency Fitch in its Insurer Financial Strength rating, reports Reuters.
Friends Provident was applauded for its continued attempts to develop new business and diversify.
The life insurer's new business increased by 13 per cent to £3.4 billion in the first six months of 2007, (compared to £3.0 billion in 2006), while international new business grew by 16 per cent to £1.2 billion.
The firm has also established some 200 alliances with intermediary providers, in a bid to establish itself successfully in the German market.
And a proposed merger with fellow life insurance company Resolution was announced at the end of July, under the terms of which the Friends Financial group would be created, serving some 9.5 million customers.
Rumours of counter bids from Pearl, Zurich, Standard Life and Old Mutual, fellow providers of life insurance, critical illness cover and income protection, have been widely discounted.
