St Peter’s Trust is unique in the UK, in funding research on disorders that affect any part of the urinary tract from the kidney to the bladder to the urethra
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We are delighted to report that in the nine months to 31st January 2013 income amounted to £206,459. 90% of this came from legacies. We are most grateful to all who have continued to support the Trust's work.
This has enabled us to fund a grant round in 2013 and as a result seven new research projects and a visiting professorship will now be started. Read more >>
The Trust, established in 1970, took its name from St. Peter’s Hospital in central London, which was founded in the 19th century for the diagnosis and treatment of urinary tract disease.
The St. Peter’s Hospital Group and its research and teaching base - the Institute of Urology & Nephrology - are now incorporated into UCL School of Medical and Life Sciences and its associated hospitals.
The research funded by the Trust is focused on increasing understanding of the underlying physiology and improving early diagnosis, preventative measures and new treatments. The reasons to support such work make stark reading:
- Kidney disease is the fifth largest cause of death in the UK.
- Kidney stones affect 12% of men and 5% of women by the age of 70.
- Chronic kidney disease affects over three million people in the UK.
- Currently there are more than 6000 people on the active waiting list for a kidney transplant, and at least 2000 who are too ill to join the list.
- Prostate cancer is the commonest cancer in men in the UK. More than 30,000 cases are diagnosed each year.
- By the age of fifty 50% of men will have developed enlarged prostates. The cause is not known, the associated symptoms are distressing and surgical treatment can carry the risk of incontinence and impotence.
- Every year 3% of women in the UK go to their doctors suffering from urinary tract infections (cystitis).
- Diabetes can lead to kidney problems and in such cases diabetic patients are 100 times more likely to die of a stroke or heart attack than non-diabetics.
- Bladder instability (whether resulting in urine retention or incontinence) is a common disorder in the community, yet its causes remain unclear and current therapies have limited success.
It will only be through sustained research efforts that the prevention or cures for these painful conditions are found. Please read on to see what we do and how you can help us to fund more projects.
St Peter's Trust for Kidney, Bladder and Prostate Research is a Special Purposes Fund under the aegis of The Royal Free Charity reg. no 1060924