Liver and Kidneys

Alice Springs has some of the highest rates of chronic kidney disease in the country but patients face huge challenges to qualify for organ donations.

Alice Springs has some of the highest rates of chronic kidney disease in the country but patients face huge challenges to qualify for organ donations.

Shopping dockets? You are probably better off not handling them. Microwaving food in plastic? That is also not advised — and it is because of the 'disrupting' chemicals, which experts say are affecting vital systems in the human body.

With very hot temperatures in Broome projected to increase from 56 to 87 days per year by 2030, Kimberley doctors are coming together to call for stronger climate action to prevent a health disaster.

Robyn Neade's been forced to move hundreds of kilometres to access life-saving dialysis treatment, despite it being available in her hometown.

Bernie Lehmann was at a country footy game when he felt lousy. He found out he had a kidney function issue and eventually needed dialysis. Then one of his children put up her hand.

Bob Moulton says he is among the rural dialysis patients who have fallen through the cracks in the state's transport subsidy scheme. 

After a bump, we can expect a bruise. But what if we find ourselves bruising without any noticeable cause? What might be behind it? Should we worry? 

The All Star singer died in hospice care after entering the final stages of liver failure.

Former Smash Mouth frontman Steve Harwell is said to be gravely ill from liver failure and is receiving hospice care.

Dale Josiah and his family moved eight hours' drive from their community for vital health treatment. He's "overwhelmed" a new facility could see the family return home for good.

Stacey Mason immediately uprooted her life when a much-needed kidney became available. The good news has kept coming since then.

Remote Indigenous communities have some of the highest rates of kidney disease in the world, but locals from Balgo in Western Australia's Tanami Desert must leave their country for dialysis treatment.

When kidney disease, gruelling dialysis and cancer forced metal worker Eddie Rigo to give up his job, he found creating metal sculptures helped him through the tough time.

Ruth Bland has lived with type 1 diabetes for about three decades, causing damage to her kidneys. Her sister, Sara McManus, decided to help.

Athletes such as Lynette Lepore are given a second chance at life as they compete in the World Transplant Games, the largest sporting event raising awareness about organ and tissue donation.

After multiple detoxes, battling poor mental health and alcohol dependence, my son was sober for five months in the year before his death. Warning labels on alcohol packaging, and stopping large quantities of alcohol being sold for pocket change might have saved his life, writes Rachel Allen. 

Frank Lopresto says he woke up to find out his kidney transplant didn't go ahead because the sprinklers went off and contaminated the donor kidney.

A South Australian Labor MP who was diagnosed with kidney cancer calls on her own government to provide more dialysis places in regional areas.

The clinic designed or adolescents and young adults with kidney problems and is aimed at easing the huge transition between child and adult services.

An international team of scientists sequence Beethoven's DNA from tufts of hair cut from his wild thatch in an attempt to find a genetic root of what ailed him.

After unsuccessful political campaigns to establish public dialysis services, residents of this Central Highlands town are raising money to pay for it themselves and avoid a six-hour return drive three times a week for some patients.

After coming to Australia from a Bangladeshi refugee camp, Rezwan Mohammed suffered from kidney disease throughout his childhood. Not allowed to play contact sports, he turned to badminton to get his sporting fix.

The Kimberley Renal Services Unit was Australia's first Indigenous-run kidney health facility when it opened 20 years ago and allows Indigenous people to receive treatment on country.

For business owner Sam Gibson, Christmas is the busiest time of the year. But in the season of giving and receiving, Mr Gibson pauses to reflect on the greatest gift he ever received — a new kidney — while encouraging others to become donors.