‘A golden age’: Long neglected in medicine, rare kidney diseases see a surge in research
As much as she tried, Judy Akin couldn’t shed the baby weight. So she’d spend hours hiking the breathtaking coast of Oahu almost every day, planning her treks around shifts as a catering manager at a local hotel. There’s a picture of her in her early forties, smiling into a camera, wearing an electric blue tank top that’s still not as blue as the water behind her. Her young, shaggy-haired son, Alexander, is strapped to her back.
After having her son, Akin got sick much more often than before, and her blood pressure was on the rise, but she led a busy, active life. The ailments were a consequence of stress, she imagined. Doctors told her she just had to shed some pounds to feel better.
