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About Hannah Bracamonte

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So far Hannah Bracamonte has created 590 blog entries.

Diabetes Awareness Month

2024-03-28T21:04:56-04:00March 17th, 2016|Categories: eNews, Physical Health, Webinar, What Causes Kidney Disease|Tags: |

Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney disease, accounting for nearly 44% of new cases each year. Coinciding with Diabetes Awareness Month, we were pleased to host an education call on November 3 to discuss the physiology of diabetes in Chronic Kidney Disease patients as well as beneficial lifestyle interventions. Danielle Kirkman, PhD was our guest speaker. She is currently a University of Delaware research fellow, focusing on the benefits of physical activity on vascular health.  Dr. Kirkman discussed the importance of monitoring your blood glucose levels early on to avoid kidney failure. The extreme fluctuations in blood glucose levels [...]

Challenges Appear on Horizon for Dialysis Workforce

2024-03-28T21:04:57-04:00March 17th, 2016|Categories: Employment, eNews, Lifestyle|

The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) recently conducted a survey which found that 51% of nephrology residency programs go unfilled. The American Nephrology Nurses Association (ANNA) also recently surveyed its membership, and 39% of respondents said their unit has insufficient staff, creating a rushed environment that contributes to incomplete work! Many ANNA survey respondents saw overlap between their working conditions and patients’ treatment conditions. Another area of concern for respondents was long hours, which contribute to various errors. While most nephrology nurses rated patient safety favorably, there is always room for improvement. There has also been a recent trend of declining [...]

Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria Draws Attention to Need for Hygienic Practices

2024-03-28T21:04:58-04:00March 17th, 2016|Categories: eNews, Staying Healthy|Tags: , |

It is hard to remember a time when there were so many news stories about infectious disease.  First, the public was told to worry about a really bad flu this winter.  Then an outbreak of the measles, which many thought to have disappeared decades ago due to immunization.  And now the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) is warning of a new superbug: CRE (the scientific name for which is carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae).  This should not be a cause for alarm, but rather a call for vigilance by every patient to take charge of their own health. CRE is a family of bacteria [...]

ESRD Patients Living Longer Despite Growth of CKD

2024-03-28T21:04:59-04:00March 17th, 2016|Categories: Diagnosis of Kidney Disease, eNews|Tags: |

According to a study by the US Renal Data System (USRDS), the University of Michigan, and the Arbor Research Collective for Health, the number of people newly diagnosed with end stage renal disease (ESRD) has been steadily declining since 2010. In 2012, only 114,813 people were newly diagnosed with ESRD, bringing the total number of ESRD patients in the US to 636,905. Mortality rates for ESRD patients have also been declining, indicating that patients on dialysis or with kidney transplants are living longer. This means dialysis patients are receiving higher quality care on the whole. While 14% of US adults have [...]

Confronting Kidney Health Disparities during Black History Month

2024-03-28T21:04:59-04:00March 17th, 2016|Categories: eNews, Kidney Transplant, What Causes Kidney Disease|Tags: , , |

While black history is American history and cannot be adequately covered in a single month, we take Black History Month as an opportunity to confront kidney health disparities. Unfortunately, African American adults are 3.5 times more likely to have kidney failure. The major risk factors for chronic kidney disease (CKD) include high blood pressure, obesity, family history and diabetes. These risk factors also disproportionately affect African American communities. The relative socioeconomic status of these communities, in addition to their relative lack of access to medical care and a genetic predisposition toward kidney disease, makes the risk for kidney disease higher.  Compared to [...]

A Brief History of Dialysis

2024-03-28T21:05:03-04:00March 10th, 2016|Categories: Dialysis, eNews, News & Events, Treatment, What Is Kidney Disease|

The history of dialysis dates back to the 1940s. The first type of dialyzer, then called the artificial kidney, was built in 1943 by Dutch physician Willem Kolff. Kolff had first gotten the idea of developing a machine to clean the blood after watching a patient suffer from kidney failure. When his invention was completed, he attempted to treat over a dozen patients with acute kidney failure over the next two years. Although only one treatment turned out successful, he continued to experiment in improving his design. Kolff came to the United States in the late 1940s and went to work [...]

Government Involvement in Dialysis

2024-03-28T21:05:04-04:00March 10th, 2016|Categories: Dialysis, eNews|

Although the development of dialysis dates back to the 1940s, the government didn’t become more involved in the payment for treatment until the 1960s. The first significant government response to dialysis first came in 1963, when Veteran’s Affairs outlined plans to build 30 dialysis unit in VA hospitals around the United States. These units were designed for veterans who were eligible for treatment. Throughout 1964 and 1965, Congress established multiple programs to help provide funding for research in dialysis, including the Artificial Kidney-Chronic Uremia Program and Transplant Immunology Program in the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. By the mid-1960s, [...]

It’s Time to Open Medicare Advantage Enrollment to Dialysis Patients

2024-03-28T21:05:04-04:00March 10th, 2016|Categories: Costs for Treatment, eNews, Fact Sheet|

In the wake of recent action by CMS to maintain Medicare Advantage funding, the time is ripe to follow up on a recommendation made by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission 14 years ago: repeal the law prohibiting dialysis patients from enrolling in Medicare Advantage. The exclusion of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients from Part C deprives them of the opportunity to access two important benefits: care coordination by a single, accountable entity; and maximum out-of-pocket limitations. ESRD Patients Lack Access to Care Coordination, Resulting in Avoidable Complications As AHIP noted in a 2010 white paper, “health plans provide a life line” [...]

Dialysis Patients’ Guide to the Medicare ESRD Bundle

2024-03-28T21:05:06-04:00March 9th, 2016|Categories: Costs for Treatment, eNews, Fact Sheet|

Medicare is changing how it pays for dialysis, and this is expected to impact your care. These changes started in 2011 and will continue through 2016. This is a guide to what you need to know and what you can do to help ensure you continue to receive quality dialysis care during this transition period. HOW WAS DIALYSIS PAID FOR TRADITIONALLY? Dialysis treatments, injectable medications received in the clinic, laboratory tests and other items used to treat end stage renal disease (ESRD, also known as kidney failure) are paid for by Medicare Part B for most patients. However, before January [...]

Can a Kidney Disease Chef Lose Weight?

2024-03-28T21:05:07-04:00March 8th, 2016|Categories: Fact Sheet, Nutrition, The Kidney Citizen|

By Duane Sunwold I’m a chronic kidney disease (CKD) patient that teaches in a culinary program. That means I’m around food ALL the time, plus the medication I was on caused me to gain an extra 70 pounds. I know managing your weight with kidney disease can be a challenge. Here are a few of the tips I used to help manage my weight. Eating the right types of food was key to losing the weight. That meant I had to embrace my doctor’s and dietitian’s advice. I planned out my 3 meals and 3 snacks a day, and followed [...]

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