A pan India study has revealed that more than 72% of the dialysispatients do not undergo the prescribed treatment. According to the study, which had surveyed 1,300 end-stage kidney patients between January 2013 to July 2014, found that of the 72%, 65% choose twice a week dialysis modality instead of thrice as prescribed. The study by NephroPlus also found that the reason behind kidney patients under-treating themselves is affordability.
Kamal Shah, co-founder and director of Patient Services, NephroPlus, who himself has been on dialysis for more than 18 years, said, "With more than 2 lakh people developing kidney failure every year, kidney disease has become one of the most chronic epidemics to affect the country. But it is widely neglected. While there has been some improvement with a few state governments coming forward and subsidising the dialysis treatment, the situation calls for greater participation from state and central governments as also large employers."
Clinically, worldwide, it is proven that under-treatment puts the patients at risk with most common outcome being cardiac arrest.
"Throughout the world, dialysis is reimbursed by governments since it's a very costly chronic treatment. I have seen that the thrice a week modality has much better compliance with medications when either the employer or a government scheme pays for the dialysis treatment. Adoption of innovative models such as public private partnership can definitely make dialysis accessible, affordable and thereby improve the clinical outcome in the country," added Dr Umesh Khanna, chairman, Mumbai Kidney Foundation.
In a private hospital, a dialysis will cost Rs1,200 to 1,500. Dr Rajesh Kumar, nephrologist at Dr LH Hiranandani Hospital, said: "Affordability is a major reason for many kidney patients to skip dialysis. We need more charitable trusts like Lalbaug Mandal where presently 180 patients are treated free of cost."
He further said that the government needs to have a well placed guidelines for people.
Making the dialysis decision: What you need to know KSL.com SALT LAKE CITY — Hundreds of thousands of Americans with kidney failure undergo dialysis treatments to keep them alive. While their reasons for needing the treatment can vary widely, many patients with kidney failure ultimately face the same dialysis ...
Leave injured wildlife alone: ESRD - Alberta Daily Herald Tribune
Provincial fish and wildlife officers are asking people to leave potentially injured or orphaned wildlife alone, so as not to further agitate the animals.
In a release, Blaine Burke, Education/Outreach Officer with Alberta Environment and Parks, said that although concerned residents have good intentions, they could introduce more anxiety to possibly already stressed animals, which creates an unsafe environment for both the animal and the people involved.
“People shouldn’t be interfering with wildlife. If a mom is gone getting food, a lot of times mom leaves the baby alone, and people don’t realize that’s what nature is, that’s how they do it,” said Burke.
He said that people should observe an animal for a 24-hour period from a distance, and then contact their local fish and wildlife office for advice instead of intervening themselves.
Alberta Parks and Environment recommends against bringing an injured animal home to nurse, in most cases it is illegal to possess live wildlife.
Burke said that they typically get more calls in the spring and summer time.
“In the spring and in the summer is usually when animals are having their babies and when they’re fending for their food and whatnot.”
City residents can contact the Grande Prairie Fish and Wildlife office at 780-538-5265. Other contact numbers are available at esrd.alberta.ca.
More Dialysis Patients Living in Poor Neighborhoods - Newswise (press release)
Newswise — MAYWOOD, IL – Poverty is known to be a strong risk factor for end-stage kidney disease. Now, a first of-its-kind study has found that the association between poverty and kidney disease changes over time.
The percentage of adults beginning kidney dialysis who lived in zip codes with high poverty rates increased from 27.4 percent during the 1995-2004 time period to 34 percent in 2005-2010.
The study, by corresponding author Holly Kramer, MD, MPH and colleagues at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, is published in the journal Hemodialysis International.
Researchers examined data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, as supplied by the US Renal Data System.
The Renal Data System does not provide data on incomes of individual dialysis patients. So researchers instead examined whether an individual patient lived in a poverty area, defined as a zip code in which at least 20 percent of the population lives below the federal poverty line.
The study demonstrated that, compared with the general population, adults beginning dialysis are more likely to be living in a poor zip code: 27.4 percent of adults beginning dialysis in 1995-2004 lived in poor zip codes, compared with 10.9 percent of the general population; the corresponding figures for 2005-2010 were 34 percent and 12.5 percent.
It remains unclear why living in a poor zip code is linked to end stage kidney disease. Some possibilities include access to health care, environmental toxin exposures that are more likely in poverty areas, and individual lifestyle factors, researchers wrote.
Future studies of end stage kidney disease patients should examine tends over time in poverty at the individual level and in smaller geographic areas, such as census tracts, Dr. Kramer and colleagues wrote.
“The collection of such data may help track national and local trends in poverty status and be used to develop policies for improving health outcomes and disease prevention,” they wrote.
Dr. Kramer, a kidney specialist, is an associate professor in the departments of Medicine and Public Health Sciences of Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine. Co-authors are Bridget H. Garrity, MPH (first author), Kavitha Vellanki, MD, David Leehey, MD, Julia Brown, MD, and David A. Shoham, PhD.
The study is titled, “Time trends in the association of ESRD incidence with the areal-level poverty in the US population.”
Health official says Nyngan dialysis patients not told to bring own blanket - Nyngan Observer
Western NSW Health District has rejected suggestions patients travelling from Nyngan to Dubbo for renal dialysis were told to supply their own blankets while undergoing treatment at Dubbo Hospital.
Western NSW Health District has rejected suggestions patients travelling from Nyngan to Dubbo for renal dialysis were told to supply their own blankets while undergoing treatment at Dubbo Hospital.
It comes after Bogan Shire Mayor Ray Donald said council had sent “a strong letter of disapproval to the health minister and others about the recent directive given to the three Nyngan residents who have to regularly travel to Dubbo for dialysis’’.
However, according to the hospital’s general manager, Debbie Bickerton, that was not the case.
“There has never been nor will there be a policy directing patients from Nyngan who access renal dialysis services at Dubbo Hospital, to provide their own blankets,’’ she said.
“Patients are permitted to use their own blankets if they wish to, and some patients choose to do this, however blankets provided by the hospital are always available for all patients using the service.’’
But Cr Donald had more issues to raise on behalf of Nyngan’s dialysis patients which he said needed to be addressed sooner rather than later.
“It is bad enough that they have to travel to Dubbo three times a week, sometimes at their own expense,’’ he said.
“They need to go to Dubbo at the moment but hopefully if there is some funding forthcoming from the sale of the poles and wires, that could change, and some extra state funding could fix this.’’
Western NSW LHD northern sector manager Joy Adams said the cost of the transport for patients who travelled to Dubbo three times a week for renal dialysis was subsidised by Home and Community Care Services. Because the patients travelled via community transport, they were not eligible for the Isolated Patients Travel and Accommodation Assistance Scheme (IPTAAS).
However, there could be be light at the end of the tunnel for Nyngan’s dialysis services, according to Ms Adams.
“In its planning for future renal services across the region, the Western NSW LHD recognises that Nyngan could become a satellite renal dialysis service providing outreach to the surrounding community,’’ she said.
“Expansion of the Nyngan service will require investment in building a space for dialysis chairs and appropriately trained staff.
“The Nyngan Health Council has been working with local health service management and the LHD to realise the renal plan in Nyngan.’’
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