Home Dialysis Central
...everything you need to know about doing dialysis at home.
Journal watch
More people are being told about PD
In 1997, the DMMS Wave 2 study found that fewer than 25% of people with kidney failure were told about PD. A new survey of people surveyed from 2005–2007 found that 61% were told—though just 10.9% of them chose PD. Still—major progress!
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Electrolyte management with more-frequent HD
How do you adjust short daily or nocturnal HD treatments to keep electrolytes in balance? This abstract isn't all that helpful—but you may want to get hold of the whole article.
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Buttonholes made easier with BioHole™ device
A polycarbonate peg placed in the needle track after dialysis can form buttonholes more quickly and accurately than using cannulation alone. The BioHole peg may help more people use the buttonhole technique—so they can take their treatments home.
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Does dialysis time matter? YES!
Perhaps if in-center folks got more HD, they would see that they feel better—and think about home. Per Drs. Lacson and Lazarus from Fresenius, "Compelling rationale and recent outcome data support use of longer Td [dialysis time]...Until such time that results from prospective randomized trials are available, we believe that physicians should prescribe and exert all efforts to convince thrice-weekly hemodialysis patients to accept 4 h as minimum Td."
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
It’s never too late to educate
Each year, many people need dialysis within just a few weeks or months of learning that their kidneys have failed. A new Canadian study found that among 228 such people who were educated by a nurse while in the hospital, 49 (21.4%) chose PD, and 22 (9.6%) chose home HD. (In the US, fewer than 8% are home.)
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Yet another call for PD first
Doctors at the University of Missouri have written an article noting that PD is under-used, and suggest ways to promote PD as a first dialysis option. Good idea!
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Dialysis at a crossroads: 50 years later
The well-known and highly respected nephrologists who sent a letter to CMS about how to improve dialysis care—with longer and/or more-frequent treatments—have written an article summing up their thoughts.
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Meta-analysis: Icodextrin PD fluid really does have advantages
In a study of 9 randomized controlled trials, icodextrin removed much more water from the blood of people who did PD than standard glucose-based PD fluid without causing any more health problems for them.
Read more | (added Aug 22, 2011)
Vitamin D deficiency linked with EPO resistance
What if resistance to EPO is related to low levels of vitamin D that tend to occur in people on dialysis? A new study looks at just that, and found a link. While more rigorous studies are needed, it's an intriguing thought...
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Watch your water soluble vitamins on nocturnal HD
More dialysis washes more vitamins out of the blood, finds a new study from Australia. Among people who were doing nocturnal HD, levels of vitamin C and thiamine were low. Supplements may be wise—ask your doctor.
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
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