More patients get life-improving, overnight dialysis
November 24, 2010
EDMONTON – More end-stage kidney disease patients will soon enjoy improved health, more personal freedom and a higher quality of life thanks to expansion of Alberta Health Services' nocturnal home hemodialysis program in the Edmonton area.
The purchase of 15 new machines, worth $390,000, will allow 15 more patients to join more than 100 Albertans who already benefit from this treatment option. Hemodialysis helps failing kidneys filter metabolic toxins and excess fluid from blood.
Conventional hemodialysis requires patients to spend four hours, three times a week, usually on the renal unit of a hospital. With nocturnal home hemodialysis, patients hook themselves up to the equipment as they retire for the night, five or six nights a week. This slower, gentler form of dialysis, done over six to nine hours nightly, is easier on the body than the faster, daytime treatments. The machine is quiet enough so patients can enjoy a normal sleep.
"The benefits of nocturnal home hemodialysis have become more apparent over the years," says Dr. Robert Pauly, a kidney specialist with the Northern Alberta Renal Program (NARP). "Many renal patients who have dialysis as they sleep have fewer medications, a more liberal diet, better heart health and increased exercise capacity than patients on conventional dialysis."
Nocturnal home hemodialysis offers survival rates similar to kidney-transplant recipients, whose new kidneys routinely last 10 to 12 years or longer before a fresh transplant or more dialysis becomes necessary. By comparison, fewer than 40 per cent of patients on conventional hemodialysis survive for five years.
Renal patient Gail McElwain, who is now on nocturnal home hemodialysis after having tried conventional hemodialysis, says she feels "an amazing amount of difference."
"I feel like doing things," says the 63-year-old Edmonton resident. "I have more independence and more energy to participate in life. I just feel so much better."
Patients who opt for nocturnal home hemodialysis must complete a six-week training program and once they begin home treatments, around-the-clock, on-call help is available if questions arise.
The hemodialysis machine, supplies and miscellaneous equipment are provided to patients free of charge by the Northern Alberta Renal Program, which serves Edmonton as well as northern communities in the province, Arctic territories and northeastern British Columbia.
The University Hospital Foundation is raising funds for the new hemodialysis machines.
"The University Hospital Foundation believes in the power of generosity and is passionate about partnering with our community to raise vital funds to change and save lives right here at home. Raising funds for the home hemodialysis equipment is a high priority for the University Hospital Foundation," says Joyce Mallman Law, president of the University Hospital Foundation.
AHS is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than 3.7 million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.
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