It happened right after his return home with a basketball gold medal from the 2000 Sydney Olympics, just in time for the birth of his daughter, Myka. "I was on top of the world," said 36-year-old Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning. "At the age of 30, I felt invincible."
But even a seven-time National Basketball Association All-Star was no match for kidney failure brought on, in Mourning's case, by an acute inflammatory illness called focal glomerulosclerosis. "I'm lucky, because a routine pre-season physical detected that I had a chronic kidney disorder," the 6-foot, 10-inch, 261-pound Mourning said in an interview in New York City on Thursday. "Otherwise, I wouldn't have known till later, and it would've been too late."
Early detection of his condition meant Mourning got a "free-throw" of sorts on the disease, allowing him to get into treatment before he required dialysis. Soon, a cousin stepped up to donate the kidney that saved Mourning's life. "That was such a blessing," he said. "You're given a second chance to live. And I knew then that if somebody was willing to do that and give me that second chance, I'm going to do everything in my power to try and make it work."
"Making it work" may be an understatement when it comes to Mourning, who was sidelined after the transplant for nearly three years but returned to pro basketball with the New Jersey Nets in 2004, before making a move back to his beloved Heat in 2005.
This season, his eight points, six rebounds and five blocked shots during the NBA series final against Dallas helped the Heat snag the championship -- a first in Mourning's 13-year career. But Mourning said he's never forgotten how fortunate he is that his condition was spotted early, before his kidneys had been too badly damaged.
Many of the estimated 20 million Americans at risk of chronic kidney disease aren't so lucky. According to experts, too many overlook the symptoms of this "silent killer" until it's too late. One of the key early warning signs: the relentless fatigue of anemia. Mourning has teamed up with drug manufacturer Ortho Biotech, the maker of the anti-anemia drug Procrit, to get the word out that anemia isn't just a minor irritant that will go away.
"We've been going around the country, creating awareness with the 'Rebound From Anemia' campaign," he said. "It's a national program and Web site aimed at raising awareness about this important issue."
According to kidney-disease expert Dr. Robert Provenzano, about 75 percent of kidney-disease cases are linked to widespread conditions such as obesity, high blood pressure and diabetes. And because those risk factors are on the rise across the United States, so too is the incidence of overt and undetected chronic kidney disease. "What happens with diabetes and hypertension is that the kidney's blood-filtering units are damaged. That means that blood no longer goes to them, and the blood doesn't get cleaned," explained Provenzano, who is director of nephrology research and acute dialysis services at St. John Hospital and Medical Center, in Detroit.
Over time, this type of damage can trigger an irreversible shutdown of both kidneys, with daily dialysis or organ transplant the only treatment options available. It doesn't have to be that way, said Provenzano, who is also a professor of medicine at Wayne State University School of Medicine. "Anemia is an early sign that something may be wrong with your kidneys," he said. "But many primary-care doctors don't make that linkage between anemia and kidney disease."
So, both Mourning and Provenzano are urging Americans at risk -- either from a family history of kidney disease or risk factors such as obesity, hypertension and diabetes -- to see their doctor regularly, and push for simple, inexpensive tests that can spot anemia and chronic kidney disease.
"So many of us are afraid to go to the doctor, because we're afraid of what doctors might tell us, when in reality, it can save your life," Mourning said. "When it comes to your health, you have to be an active participant. Early detection is so important -- not just waiting until something hurts."
Mourning's performance on the court and off proves that kidney disease can be beaten. He admits that he had some down moments soon after his diagnosis. But he said he thought of his wife, Tracy, and his children, Myka and Alonzo III.
"I knew I had to be around for my children," Mourning said. "I had to get out of the 'Why-did-this-happen-to-me?' place, and do something about it, turn it into a positive."
Besides working with "Rebound From Anemia," Mourning also founded a charity, "Zo's Fund for Life," that's focused on supporting research and education on kidney disorders, as well as providing financial relief to patients battling the illness. In 2005, Mourning made headlines when he donated his entire Miami Heat salary to charities that helped that city's underprivileged youth and people struggling with kidney disease.
Mourning said helping others has been a slam-dunk for him.
"I just feel like my walk through this particular journey has been touching others, every step that I take," he said. "I hope it is inspiring them, because that inspires me to continue to do what I do."
Conjoined Twins Stable After Surgery
SHANGHAI, China (AP) -- Doctors successfully separated 10-month-old conjoined twin girls, though their condition remained precarious due to heart and other problems, a hospital official said Friday.
The girls, Hu Jingxuan and Hu Jingni, shared a liver, spleen, gall bladder and digestive tract before the surgery, which lasted 13 hours, said an official in the administrative office of Fudan University Children's Hospital, where the surgery took place.
The official refused to give her name, as is often the case with Chinese not authorized to speak to media. She said the children, while relatively stable for now, run the risk of organ failure and malnutrition and will need several more operations.
The twins' deformity was very rare, and the surgery was the first of its kind, the state-run newspaper Shanghai Daily quoted Gui Yonghao, president of Fudan University Children's Hospital, as saying.
"It would have been a miracle for one child to survive and a challenge for the limits of medicine for both to survive. We made it," Gui said.
Both twins suffer from congenital heart disease. The stronger of the two, Jingni, was moved to an intensive care unit after she was separated from her sister late Thursday. Jingxuan remained in the operating room because of her frail condition, the report said.
Doctors said they were forced to operate because the babies' condition was deteriorating and they had stopped gaining weight.
The hospital, which has conducted numerous separation operations, began planning the girls' surgery right after their birth. A business group in Taizhou, the twins' hometown, raised more than $25,000 to help pay for their treatment, reports said.
The twins were born weighing a total of 10 pounds. Before surgery, they weighed 16 pounds, it said. They looked thin and frail in photos provided by the hospital.
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our
Health Tip: If You Find Mold in the House
July 7, 2006 04:03:13 PM PST
If while you're cleaning the house you find a suspicious dark spot, you can check to see if it's mold by dabbing the spot with a small amount of chlorine bleach. If the color changes or disappears, the stain is likely mold, says Health Canada.
If you do find mold:
- Throw it out if the spot is on a blanket or rug.
- If the spot is small, clean it by using one part bleach to four parts water and a small amount of a non-ammonia dishwashing detergent. Never mix chlorine bleach and ammonia.
- Identify and remove the source of water. Leaking water can also lead to serious structural damage.
States Line Up for Anti-Flu Medication
WASHINGTON (AP) -- South Carolina is in. Utah and Alabama, too.
Some states aren't waiting for an Aug. 1 deadline to seek help from the federal government in buying anti-flu medicine for a possible pandemic.
"We figure it is certainly better to do it and move forward with the purchase and hope we never have to use it than not and wish that we had," said Jim Beasley, spokesman for South Carolina's Department of Health and Environmental Control.
As part of its pandemic preparations, the federal government is stockpiling Tamiflu and other anti-flu medications, which can reduce the symptoms associated with influenza. The Bush administration plans to buy enough to treat 44 million people.
States can buy more if they want. The government is negotiating a price with Roche Laboratories, Inc., which makes Tamiflu, and will pay a quarter of the costs, up to a prescribed amount for each state. In all, states could use the subsidy to buy anti-flu medications for an additional 31 million people.
The Department of Health and Human Services had set a July 1 deadline for states to indicate whether they would move forward with the purchase, but some states wanted more time, said spokesman Bill Hall. The deadline was moved to Aug. 1.
Hall stressed that the deadline does not obligate states to a specific course of action. Rather, it serves as guidance to HHS for its planning.
Montana and Arizona want only a little extra help. Meanwhile, states such as Washington say they plan to take full advantage of the next few weeks to determine the right amount of drugs to purchase.
"There's a lot to sort out with antivirals," said Tim Church, spokesman for the Washington state Department of Health. "It's not a black-and-white decision."
Oklahoma lawmakers this spring allocated $500,000 to buy anti-flu medications. That's enough to pay for enough medicine to treat about 35,000 of the state's 3.5 million people. But that's about 7 percent of the amount HHS estimates the state could purchase through the federal subsidy.
"We're struggling with how much do we need," said the state's epidemiologist, Dr. Brett Cauthen. "How much insurance do you need? Nobody knows what the best number is."
Other states also indicated they probably won't use their full allotment. Montana, population 918,000, plans to buy enough anti-flu medication to treat 8,100 people. It could have bought enough to treat about 96,000.
David Engelthaler, epidemiologist for the Arizona Department of Health Services, said the state had plans to spend $1 million on 70,000 courses of the 585,780 available to Arizona, population 5.6 million, but would talk to local health officials to see if more should be purchased.
Engelthaler said it wasn't prudent to use public money to stockpile Tamiflu for every man, woman and child. "It's not likely to be a good drug for general prevention like a vaccine would," he said.
Meanwhile, New Hampshire said it intends to purchase all the drugs that the federal government is making available to the state, as well as enough to treat nearly a quarter-million health care workers, first responders and nursing home residents.
"The department feels that, at this time, the prudent act would be to place the order, as a placeholder," state Health Commissioner John Stephen wrote in a letter to the governor and legislative officials.
Earlier, Dr. Jose Montero, state epidemiologist, said New Hampshire would not buy additional anti-flu medication unless the Legislature appropriated funds.
Other states also are taking advantage of the federal government's offer.
"We are authorized to buy as much as we can get by the governor," said Dr. Fred Jacobs, New Jersey's health commissioner.
New Jersey has told HHS it wants enough to treat about 900,000 people.
Dr. William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University's medical school, recommends that states have some anti-flu medication stockpiled in case of a pandemic. However, he said there's no right answer when it comes to just how much the states should have on hand.
"These are all insurance policies we're buying," Schaffner said.
How much insurance a state wants has to be weighed against other pressing matters, such as funding better education or roads, he said.
Schaffner said he does sense, however, than many states still rely too much on the premise that the federal government should fund pandemic preparedness.
"When it comes down to funding, that's when a lot of states are saying, gee, maybe it should all come from Uncle Sam," said Schaffner. "I think that's not a reasonable idea, and that's why we at Vanderbilt have made an investment in our own stockpile, and have invested substantially in drills and planning."
The federal government has made clear that it won't be able to protect everyone in a pandemic.
"Any community that fails to prepare with the expectation that the federal government will at the last moment be able to come to the rescue will be tragically wrong," said Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt.
There have been three influenza pandemics in the United States during the past century. Officials fear that a virus in birds, the H5N1 virus, could mutate and spread from human to human. The World Health Organization reports that at least 229 people are known to have contracted bird flu since 2003, of which, 131 died.
---
On the Net:
Government's pandemic flu site: http://www.pandemicflu.gov
© 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Learn more about our Privacy Policy.
