| Take Charge of Your Healthcare with
My Health™ |  |
AAKP My Health™ now offers new features to help users take charge of their health care. Users can now:
· Receive appointment reminders by email
· Print emergency contact cards AAKP My Health™ is a free, unique section of the AAKP website, www.aakp.org, that provides you with online tools to be the leader in your healthcare. With AAKP My Health™, you can:
· Track your lab results
· Log your medications
· List your healthcare team members
· Prepare information for doctor visits
· Test your kidney knowledge
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| Insurance Type Influences Dialysis Access Method | | Patients who start dialysis through the VA or Department of Defense healthcare systems are more likely to have an arteriovenous fistula - the preferred method of access - than those with other types of insurance, researchers found. More than a quarter of such patients started dialysis with a fistula according to a report in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.
That compares with 8.2 percent of those with no insurance, 13 percent of those with Medicaid, 15.6 percent of those with Medicare, 16.7 percent of those with "other" insurance, and 18.5 percent of those with employer group insurance. An arteriovenous fistula is considered the best access for hemodialysis because of a low complication rate, superior access survival, decreased mortality, and lower costs compared with arteriovenous grafts or central venous dialysis catheters. Although Medicare covers all costs after the initiation of hemodialysis - regardless of age - predialysis nephrology care, which influences the likelihood of having an arteriovenous fistula at the start of dialysis, is not covered by Medicare and must be paid for out-of-pocket or by other insurance. |
| Death Risk in Hemodialysis Patients Linked to Potassium |
Higher dietary potassium intake is associated with an increased risk of death in long-term hemodialysis (HD) patients, new findings suggest. Researchers studied 224 long-term HD patients receiving treatment at eight dialysis clinics. The researchers estimated dietary potassium intake based on patient responses to a food frequency questionnaire at the start of the study.
Compared with the lowest quarter of potassium intake, the highest quarter was associated with a significant 2.4 times increased risk of death, after adjusting for numerous variables, including serum potassium levels, dietary protein and phosphorus intake, and nutritional and inflammatory marker levels. According to researchers, the results support the importance of dietary interventions on survival in patients with CKD and suggest a potential role for dietary potassium in the high mortality rate for dialysis patients. The study appears in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases. |
| Gene Variants Linked with ESRD in Diabetic Chinese Patients | Examination of a gene involved in cell signaling finds that four common variants of this gene are associated with the development of end-stage renal disease in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes, according to a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Asian populations appear to be particularly at risk of diabetic kidney disease (DKD), and compared with white individuals, Asian patients have a higher risk of end-stage renal disease (ESRD).
Researchers examined whether variations in the gene are associated with risk of new-onset ESRD in a group of Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes. Genetic analysis was conducted among 1,172 Chinese patients without renal disease at the beginning of the study. Analysis indicated that four common genetic variants predicted ESRD in separate models, with the likelihood for ESRD increased with a greater number of risk alleles (an alternative form of a gene). The adjusted risk for ESRD was approximately six times higher for patients with 4 risk alleles compared with patients with 0 or 1 risk allele. |
| Register Now for the Next AAKP Healthline Call |
 The upcoming AAKP HealthLine call, titled I'm Always Tired...Anemia vs. Depression, takes place Wednesday, October 6, from 1:30 p.m. - 2:30 p.m. ET. The call focuses on the possible side effects of chronic kidney disease (CKD) - anemia and depression. Many of the symptoms of anemia and depression are similar including: fatigue, loss of appetite, feelings of sadness and lack of energy.
To register for this HealthLine call, please contact AAKP at (800) 749-2257 or register online. |
| Unbundling the Bundle Webinar Now Available | | The webinar, "Unbundling the Bundle: The Impact of Payment Reform on the Renal Community," presented on August 25 by Nephrology News & Issues, is available for replay starting Monday, August 30. This 1.5 hour webinar helps break down the complexity of the new payment bundle and offers commentary from industry representatives on how it will impact the provider community and patients. To access the replay, go to www.nephronline.com and click on the ad on the home page for the webinar. |
| Veteran Affairs Says Redsense Alarm Will Be Mandatory | The Redsense alarm will be required for use in Veteran Affairs' dialysis centers, the agency said in a patient safety alert. The safety alert, intended to monitor for potential blood loss from the hemodialysis access site, will be required for all patients with needle access undergoing hemodialysis outside of the dialysis clinic area, such as outside of the dialysis unit including in-hospital wards or ICUs where treatments are done at the bedside, and side rooms or isolation rooms in the hemodialysis unit that do not allow direct line-of-sight visualization of the patient and the dialysis machine during hemodialysis.
The Redsense alarm may also be used on patients identified by dialysis staff at risk of a Venous Needle Dislodgement. Risk factors include conditions such as confusion, agitation dementia, or uncooperative patients, patients with difficult to secure needles, or other patients with risks which may be of concern to the dialysis team. |
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