MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Charuhas Thakar, MD Director, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension Professor of Medicine University of Cincinnati Medical Research: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings? "Diabetes is the major contributor to the growing burden of end-stage renal disease,” says Charuhas Thakar, MD, professor and director of the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension at the UC College of Medicine. "Acute kidney injury is a common problem among diabetic patients who require admissions to hospitals. Approximately one-third of patients who develop AKI also have diabetes mellitus.” Dr. Thakar along with a team of researchers have looked at a cohort of about 3,700 patients with Type 2 diabetes longitudinally followed for a five-year period to determine AKI’s impact. AKI is a rapid loss of kidney function, which is common in hospitalized patients. It has many causes that include low blood volume, exposure to substances or interventions harmful to the kidney and obstruction of the urinary tract. (more…)