Reusable water bottles in an appeal coinciding with World Kidney Day
Every year the celebration of World Kidney Day on 8 March sees an international campaign to raise awareness about the importance of these vital organs. All over the world activities take place to illustrate the realities of kidney disease, explain what the risk factors for developing it are and encourage healthier behaviour.
As part of the campaign the Kidney Affecting Disease Research Group of the Germans Trias i Pujol Research Institute (IGTP) are selling reusable water bottles for two reasons: to encourage people to drink more water to protect and cure their kidneys and to highlight the need for more money to fund research into kidney disease.
The supermarket chain Sorli is supporting this fundraising for research initiative by making the bottles available in three of their shops in Badalona throughout the week: Germà Juli (c. Germà Juli 14-22), Pep Ventura (pl. Pep Ventura 22-32) i Canyadó (c. Jacint Benavent 6-30).
You can also find the appeal bottles on sale during the morning on 8 March at the Workshop organized by the Germans Trias i Pujol Hospital at the Centre Cultural el Carme in the centre of Badalona.
Over a thousand new cases every year
Kidneys are vital organs; amongst other things they filter and clean the blood, eliminate waste substances as urine and control blood pressure. When the kidneys fail patients develop a condition known as chronic renal disease and this can lead to kidney failure. In these cases the kidneys stop working completely and their function has be carried out by a dialysis machine and if possible the patient must have a kidney transplant.
In Catalonia alone 10,000 people have kidney failure and a thousand new cases are diagnosed every year according to official data from 2014. This disease has a huge effect on the day to day life of people suffering from it. For this reason the Kidney Affecting Disease Research Group (REMAR) aims to improve the quality of life for patients by identifying new ways to prevent and treat the illness and to convert results into ways of treating sufferers. The group is a multidisciplinary team which includes doctors, biologists, biochemists and biotechnologists, it is recognized as a consolidated research group by the Generalitat of Catalonia (2017SGR301).