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For Mike Guffey, Working Was Key to Staying Positive

2024-03-28T20:57:27-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Diagnosis of Kidney Disease, Dialysis, Employment, Hemodialysis, In-Center Hemodialysis, Kidney Transplant, Mental Health, Quality of Life, The Kidney Citizen|

Mike Guffey When Mike Guffey began dialysis treatments in 2008, one of his top priorities was to ensure he had a reason to keep moving forward, something to look forward to when he got out of bed which would allow him to push through his treatment regimen. For him, that meant returning to work as quickly as he could after starting his treatments, especially given how quickly he crashed into life on dialysis. Normally based in Kansas City, Mike was working temporarily as a project manager in Colorado when he noticed something was off. He went to the [...]

Black and Hispanic Patients on Dialysis Have Higher Rates of Staph Bloodstream Infections

2024-03-28T20:57:27-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Diagnosis of Kidney Disease, Dialysis, Early Intervention, Stages of Kidney Disease, Staying Healthy, The Kidney Citizen|

Actions to Reduce Inequities Can Save Lives CDC Newsroom Media Statement – Originally published February 6, 2023 Contact: Media Relations, (404) 639-3286 Adults on dialysis treatment for end-stage kidney disease were 100 times more likely to have a Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bloodstream infection than adults not on dialysis during 2017–2020, according to a new Vital Signs report released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). More than half of people in the U.S. receiving dialysis belong to a racial or ethnic minority group—about 1 in every 3 people receiving dialysis is Black and 1 in every 5 [...]

8 Ways to Be a Safe Patient

2024-03-28T20:57:28-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Immunizations, Medication, Physical Health, Resources, Staying Healthy, The Kidney Citizen|

When you have surgery, receive dialysis, or visit your doctor, you deserve safe care. Everyone plays a role in patient safety and quality health care. CDC and its partners provide expertise, data, and programs for safe health care to support public health, healthcare workers, patients, and caregivers. How Can I Be a Safe Patient? Speak up. Talk to your healthcare provider about any questions or worries. Ask what they’re doing to protect you from infections. Keep hands clean. Make sure everyone, including friends and family, cleans their hands before touching you. If you don’t see your healthcare providers clean their [...]

Ask the Doctor

2024-03-28T20:57:29-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Costs for Treatment, Dialysis, Hemodialysis, Home Hemodialysis, In-Center Hemodialysis, Kidney Transplant, Medication, The Kidney Citizen|

Velma Scantlebury, MD, DPC Education Center Health Care Consultant 1. Four hours is too long for me to sit in dialysis. Do I have to attend every treatment? Answer: Think of dialysis as being the only way to get the toxins out of your body from the food that you consume everyday - three times a day. When you lose kidney function and are on dialysis, you are usually then only cleansing your body every other day. Those toxins will build up and can cause your body to deteriorate over time. Missing dialysis is harmful to your body. [...]

The DPC Education Center is Pleased to Welcome Velma Scantlebury, MD, to the Team!

2024-03-28T20:57:30-04:00June 14th, 2023|Categories: Staying Healthy, The Kidney Citizen, Treatment|

Velma Scantlebury, MD, the first African-American female transplant surgeon in the United States, has joined Dialysis Patient Citizens as a healthcare consultant. Dr. Scantlebury served as a kidney surgeon for over 30 years, dedicating her life’s work to educating and raising awareness for the health disparities people in the Black community face from kidney disease. Born in Barbados, Dr. Scantlebury’s family moved to New York City when she was 15. She attended Long Island University on a full academic scholarship, obtaining a biology degree with a pre-med focus. Dr. Scantlebury then earned her medical degree from Columbia University, completed her [...]

A Step Forward: Inhibiting APOL1 (Gene) to Treat Kidney Disease

2024-03-28T20:57:32-04:00June 5th, 2023|Categories: Early Intervention, eNews, Medication|

By V. Scantlebury, MD, FACS, DPC Education Center Healthcare Consultant A recent article in the New England Journal of Medicine by Egbuna and colleagues (1) reported that in a small study, patients with focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) who are homozygous for the variants in the gene encoding apolipoprotein L1 (APOL1) when treated with the drug Inaxaplin, (which inhibits APOL1 function) demonstrated significantly reduced protein excretion. Inaxaplin is the first investigational therapy that is directed at treating  APOL1-mediated kidney disease. Why is this significant? There is a disproportionate burden of chronic kidney disease in persons of African ancestry. FSGS and other [...]

Bringing Racial Equity to Kidney Transplant Evaluation

2024-03-28T20:57:34-04:00April 14th, 2023|Categories: eNews, Kidney Transplant, Treatment|

By V. Scantlebury, MD, FACS, DPC Education Center Healthcare Consultant Researchers from the Medical University of South Carolina’s Department of Surgery has developed an initiative that will help address the disparities seen in kidney transplantation for African Americans. While African Americans develop kidney failure at a rate that is three times greater than Whites, they are four times less likely to receive a kidney transplant by 12 months after a diagnosis of kidney failure. There are many barriers that contribute to these inequities and the researchers at MUSC, hope to implement strategies designed to reduce the structural barriers that prevent [...]

ADA Advises New BP, Lipid Targets for People With Diabetes

2024-03-28T20:57:35-04:00April 5th, 2023|Categories: eNews, Medication, Staying Healthy|

By V. Scantlebury, MD, FACS, DPC Education Center Healthcare Consultant The American Diabetes Association has recently made more aggressive changes to the Standard of Care in Diabetes -2023. Published in December 2022 as a supplement in Diabetes Care, this document is considered the gold standard for the care of over 100 million Americans living with diabetes and pre-diabetes. Below is a summary of some of the recommendations: A blood pressure target for people with diabetes of less than 130/80 mmHg, if it can be reached safely. Blood pressure targets should be individualized through a shared decision-making process that addresses the [...]

Staph Infections in Hemodialysis Patients

2024-03-28T20:57:36-04:00March 7th, 2023|Categories: eNews, Hemodialysis|

A new study, looking at data from the 2020 National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) and the 2017-2020 Emerging Infections Program (EIP), has found that Hispanic patients on hemodialysis had a 40% higher risk of having a Staphylococcus aureus (staph) bloodstream infection than white patients. This is on top of all hemodialysis patients being 100 times more likely to have an S. aureus bloodstream infection than non-dialysis patients. Data also showed that the S. aureus bloodstream infection rate was strongly associated with vascular access via central venous catheter over graft or fistulas. Higher rates of S. aureus bloodstream infections have also been [...]

A Career and Dialysis Become a Way of Life

2024-03-28T20:57:39-04:00February 1st, 2023|Categories: Dialysis, Employment, eNews, Hemodialysis, In-Center Hemodialysis, Physical Health|

By Gene Blankenship, DPC Board Member I was 42 years old when I crashed into dialysis, though my family obviously knew about my kidney disease. I also worked full time and so the next step was to tell my employer, OPEA. I cannot compliment my employer enough. From the second I told my Supervisor and our Executive Director it was, as the cool kids say, "cake". First words out of their collective mouths were "How can we help?'  My doctor and I had already discussed what I could do while still keeping my health a priority. This made [...]

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