Overnight Dialysis Boosts Heart and Kidney Health

Regular dialysis can really wear you out! Three days a week in a clinic for hours on end certainly takes its toll. Overnight dialysis is less tiring, taking place while you sleep, but recent research suggests it gives you more than just a rest! Have a read of the research paper in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology

Nocturnal home hemodialysis (NHD) could soon become a popular way to be treated. And it can be quite straightforward as well. After examining 17 patients responses to NHD, the spokesman for the group of medical scientists from Toronto, cardiologist Dr. Christopher Overgaard, said that "Longer dialysis, done while patients are sleeping, may improve the health of arteries and could lower the risk of developing heart disease."

While they are sleep, the patients are clearing their systems of more waste, and in a less disruptive manner, than they would be by going to their normal clinic several times a week.

And the heart benefit? The scientists found that coronary endothelial responsiveness — or how well the layer of cells along the inner lining of blood vessels functions — was partially improved with overnight dialysis. This finding is crucial for patients with impaired endothelial function, which is linked to accelerated atherosclerosis — or the hardening of arteries leading to the heart—in kidney disease patients.

Just imagine - a simple change in how the treatment is given and the patient's health improves. And it is less stressful than the standard hemodialysis treatment too!

Baxter closes deal for Gambro

Baxter, the dialysis American specialist, has completed a deal with Gambro, a deal that started quite some time ago, one they have been after for even longer.

Baxter International Inc. said on 6th September that it has completed its $3.9 billion acquisition of Gambro AB, a private Swedish medical technology company founded in 1964.

This is the biggest acquisition for Baxter, making it an even bigger player in the large and expanding kidney dialysis market.

Baxter has tried for some time to arrange a tie-up with Gambro, the world's third-largest dialysis equipment maker, to help it broaden its kidney business. Baxter's dialysis business is focused on peritoneal dialysis, a treatment that can be performed at a patient's home, while Gambro makes equipment for dialysis performed in a hospital or health clinic (Baxter dropped out of this market in 2005). This means Baxter are now active in all the major forms of dialysis treatment. They can expand their current product range in to Europe, Gambro's territory, and Gambro can expand their equipment into Latin America and Asia.

The acquisition started with an offer accepted on 4th December 2012, and regulators in different areas have gradually given their approval. Gambro was a privately held company. Combined manufacturing and marketing should cut costs dramatically for the new joint business. The acquisition deal is valued at $3.9 billion, so it will be a while before the costs are recovered.

Mount Sinai specialist promotes home dialysis

A recent article in New York Daily News covers home dialysis and the advantages for the patient.
"We now have the technology to deliver dialysis at home, an approach that has better outcomes for patients and is cheaper,” says Dr. Jaime Uribarri of Mount Sinai Hospital."

According to the report, out of approximately 400,000 Americans on dialysis, fewer than 30,000 of them across the country receive peritoneal dialysis, the most common form of home dialysis. Although home dialysis might sound extremely technical, just about anyone willing to participate in their own care can be trained to do it. And studies have shown that hemodialysis (the main dialysis centre treatment) and peritoneal dialysis are equally effective.

So what's stopping you from trying home dialysis?

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Number of patients may affect YOUR health

There are many factors affecting your health if you have chronic kidney disease and need dialysis.
Just how busy your kidney specialist is may affect your health!

Dialysis patients receiving treatment from kidney specialists with a higher patient caseload have a greater risk of dying prematurely than those receiving care from specialists with a lower caseload, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN). The study is the first of its kind to examine the association between nephrologist caseload and mortality risk in a large urban US setting.

It seems logical to me that a specialist who has to see two or three times as many patients than the average must be giving each one less time, and one who sees 66% or 50% of the average can be giving each one more time. Hence it should come as no surprize when this was reported.

But scientists never just assume, they should always check. So a group from University of California Irvine Medical Center investigated whether or not those with a high work load had more than the average risk of patients suffering premature death, and whether those with a lower number of patients lead to a better survival rate.

Among the major findings:
• Nephrologists whose dialysis patients had the best survival had a significantly lower patient caseload than nephrologists whose patients had the worst survival.
• For every additional 50 patients cared for by a nephrologist, patients had a 2% higher risk of dying during the study period.

You can read the abstract online.

Love and a Transplant

After splitting up with a girlfriend, contact often fades away. One thing you don't expect to do 20 years later is donate a kidney, and fall in love again.

The UK's Telegraph reports in a recent issue that's exactly what Gordon Henry has done, after splitting up from Jo Macfarane in 1993.

After hearing that Jo's chronic kidney condition meant she was in need of a transplant, Gordon decided to step in and lend a hand, or a kidney to be more exact. And amazingly he turned out to be a perfect match. After the operation, with the donor and recipient waking up in adjoining beds, nurses dropped a hint that Gordon might secretly still want her back. and now they are back together again.

They split up after they had a son, and 20 years on Gordon thought that donating a kidney "was a chance to repay her for all she's done for our son, she's brought him up all these years."

You can read the story here.