Home Dialysis Central
...everything you need to know about doing dialysis at home.
Journal watch
New study: Survival benefit for nocturnal HD
Researchers from the U.S. and Canada matched each of 94 people on nocturnal HD and 43 on short daily HD to 10 controls on standard HD. Even using the "proportional hazards model", they found a significantly lower risk of hospitalization and death on nocturnal, and a lower (but not significant) risk for daily, too.
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Dialysate regeneration for home HD
Dr. Ronco's been busy: he is also a co-author on an article this month about a system to use two activated carbon columns to regenerate dialysate.
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
In-center nocturnal—another good option
Canada found that folks switched from standard in-center HD to nocturnal in-center HD (3 nights/week) used less EPO and had better sleep, quality of life, appetite, and energy. They also had fewer cramps.
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Switching from standard to nocturnal HD has many benefits
We bet you won't be surprised to learn that the 13 patients studied had much lower BP (with fewer drugs), higher hemoglobins (with fewer ESAs), better nutritional status, and lower calcium-phosphorus product. (PTH rose in some, though.)
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
First report from the Frequent Hemodialysis Network studies!
There are two FHN studies. One compares 6-days-a-week in-center HD to 3-days-a-week. The other looks at 6-nights-a-week home nocturnal vs. 3 standard home HD treatments. So far, the study shows that more-frequent HD really is a LOT more dialysis—enough that the results should be able to prove whether more is truly better.
Read more | (added Aug 24, 2011)
Get drier: Live longer
A 3.5 year long study of 269 people on HD has found that folks who had more water removed from the blood (tested with a body composition monitor) lived significantly longer than those who stayed water-logged. (Drier is better, and doing longer and/or more frequent HD makes that possible.)
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
HD frequency vs. length: Which matters most?
For toxin removal, are you better off with more frequent HD, or longer treatments? Turns out that longer HD removes significantly more creatinine and methylguanidine than standard or more frequent treatments—but the combination of BOTH was best. (You knew we'd say that!)
Read more | (added Aug 24, 2011)
Mind the gap
In the UK, "mind the gap" means watch your step as you get off the train. For in-center HD, the gap is the 2-day dialysis weekend. It turns out that switching randomly chosen patients from 3x/week to every other day HD for 12 months reduced blood pressure, left ventricular mass, EPO dose, urea rebound, and symptoms. Of course; it's more physiological!
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Nocturnal HD improves melatonin rhythm for better sleep
Is sleep better or worse on nocturnal HD, since it is done at night? A new study of 13 people who switched from standard HD to nocturnal found that standard HD disrupts the normal rhythm of melatonin (the hormone that helps you sort out day from night). After 6 months of night-time treatments, this rhythm was partly restored—and sleep was much better.
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Children on dialysis have good survival prospects
Some of the longest survivors of ESRD were children or teens when their kidneys failed. A new study finds that 5-year survival of this group after they reach age 18 was 95.1%, with an average life expectancy of age 63 with a transplant—or age 38 with standard dialysis. Of course, two recent studies have found that survival with longer and/or more frequent HD rivals that of transplant.
Read more | (added Feb 24, 2011)
Our sponsors
Home Dialysis Central is made possible through the generous annual contributions of our Corporate Sponsors. Learn more about becoming a Corporate Sponsor.
