National Kidney Foundation Sponsors Golf Classic in Massachusetts

A graduate of the Yale School of Medicine, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith serves as an internal medicine physician at StayWell Health Center in Waterbury, Connecticut. A recipient of several awards and designations, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith earned a Research Fellowship Award from the National Kidney Foundation (NKF).

Founded in 1950, the NKF supports kidney patients and their families while raising awareness about the dangers associated with kidney disease. The organization’s efforts helped create the Kidney Early Evaluation Program, which allowed doctors to study and analyze ways to better treat kidney disease. The organization is now the largest and most comprehensive one dedicated to kidney disease.

The NKF sponsors several fundraising events throughout the year, including golf classics. The NKF Konica Minolta Golf Classic takes place on June 12, 2018, at the Boston Golf Club in Hingham, Massachusetts. Now in its seventh year at the Boston location, the tournament has raised more than $600,000 to support, prevent, raise awareness for, and treat kidney disease. Golfers have a chance to qualify for the national finals at Pebble Beach as well as compete for prizes provided by local and national sponsors.

How Sugar Can Affect Your Body

A professor emeritus at Yale University, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith has passionately cared for patients for over three decades. Dr. Rex Mahnensmith’s special interests include obesity, metabolism, preventive health, prediabetes, and diabetes. He has written numerous articles to help people better understand different medical conditions. 

In one article, Dr. Mahnensmith traces how sugar travels through the body and affects tissues. Sucrose, commonly known as sugar, is produced by plants. When ingested sucrose, a complex sugar, is broken down into two simple sugars - glucose and fructose. These two simple sugars are easily absorbed into the bloodstream. 

Glucose is the energy source for tissue cells. To facilitate its travel to the cells via the bloodstream, the pancreas releases an appropriate level of insulin, which also maintains the optimal level of glucose. There can be a condition when glucose remains in the bloodstream much longer than the ideal one to two hours. 

When this occurs, the highly reactive glucose molecules can interact with other reactive molecules in a process known as glycation. This can lead to irreversible changes in tissues that can ultimately cause diseases. Millions of people around that world who are prediabetic and diabetic experience this condition.

The Good and Bad Sides of Glucose

A professor emeritus of Yale University, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith continues to provide patient care in Waterbury, Connecticut. He is an accomplished internal medicine physician whose specialties include diabetes medicine. In a published article, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith explained the positive and negative facets of glucose once it is inside our body. 

Glucose is a molecule that is found in various plants we eat such as potatoes, wheat, and rice, as well as from other plants such as beets, sugarcane, and various fruits. Absorbed into the bloodstream via the intestinal tract, glucose is taken up by different tissues where it eventually reaches the body's cells. Once inside the cell, it performs its all-important function of being the main provider of energy for the cell or is stored for later energy use. 

In individuals who are prediabetic or diabetic, where circulating glucose molecules in the bloodstream are not delivered efficiently into the body's cells, glucose can interact with circulating oxygen and other molecules in a reaction known as glycation. Glycation can permanently change the structures and functions of a tissue or organ. 

The adverse, chaotic, and random glycation reactions occur daily in people who are diabetic or prediabetic. And the culprit is a glucose molecule that has circulated in the bloodstream for far too long.

What You Should Know about an Abdominal Paracentesis

  A physician specializing in internal medicine, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith has been caring for patients for 40 years. In his practice, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith has performed numerous procedures, including abdominal paracentesis. 

Abdominal paracentesis, also known as an abdominal tap, is a procedure performed to remove excess fluids from a patient’s abdominal cavity. The fluid, usually referred to as ascites, should not normally be in the abdomen. It may be caused by cirrhosis of the liver, kidney disease, bowel damage, an infection, or pancreatitis. Left unchecked, the fluid can cause pain, bloating, and breathing problems. 

An abdominal paracentesis can be performed in a hospital emergency room, a doctor's office, or in an operating room. It is a relatively short procedure, depending on the amount of fluid being removed. Before the procedure is performed, a patient should inform the doctor of any pre-existing allergies or medication being taken, especially anti-inflammatory or blood thinning medication. A blood test may be performed prior to the procedure. 

During the procedure, the patient lies on a bed facing upward. The doctor starts by shaving and cleaning the abdominal area before applying a local anesthetic to numb the pain. The doctor will then make an incision in the skin and insert a needle one or two inches into the opening. The fluid is then removed through the syringe. After the fluid has been removed, the wound is stitched and dressed.

Diabetes Drug Shows Potential in Chronic Kidney Disease

As an internal medicine physician at StayWell Health Center in Waterbury, Connecticut, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith draws on a background that includes fellowship training in nephrology. Also a former chief of nephrology at Miriam Hospital, Dr. Rex Mahnensmith continues to focus on the needs of patients with chronic kidney disease.

On June 12, 2017, pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim (BI) officially announced their intent to investigate their existing product Jardiance as a potential treatment for chronic kidney disease. Jardiance is currently in use as a sodium-glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitor, used to lower blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes.

The announcement follows data from a 2015 cardiovascular outcomes trial that indicated the potential of Jardiance to reduce the risk of cardiovascular fatalities by 38 percent. In 2016, Eli Lilly and BI released a new analysis of the same study that showed Jardiance's ability to reduce two key measures of kidney problems. 

The drug effectively reduced the progression of microalbuminuria, defined as excessively high levels of the protein albumin in the patient's urine. It also reduced doubling of the waste product creatinine, a process indicative of kidney decline, by approximately 44 percent. Furthermore, and perhaps most notably, the drug reduced the incidence of dialysis and other renal replacement therapies by 55 percent.

The June 12 announcement came with additional data to support the potential of Jardiance to slow the decline of kidney function, even in patients at high risk of kidney disease. Following this evidence, Eli Lilly and BI will start a large clinical outcomes trial that will involve approximately 5,000 patients with chronic kidney disease.

Dr. Rex Mahnensmith, MD - International Association of HealthCare Profess...