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So far Hannah Bracamonte has created 586 blog entries.

Education Center Develops New Patient Education Classroom on Bone & Mineral Disease

2024-03-28T21:06:21-04:00January 27th, 2015|Categories: eNews, News & Events, Nutrition, Staying Healthy|Tags: , |

The DPC Education Center recently developed an online classroom on bone & mineral disease for dialysis patients. One topic the classroom focuses on is Vitamin D and its many benefits. Vitamin D balances calcium and phosphorus, regulates parathyroid hormone (PTH) production, helps build strong bones, and prevents rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults. Receptors in the kidney turn Vitamin D into its active form, calciferol, but the kidneys of dialysis patients are unable to perform this function. This helps explain why almost all dialysis patients are Vitamin D-deficient. Unfortunately, dialysis patients are often unable to turn Vitamin D from natural [...]

Proper Disinfection Practices Can Eliminate The Spread of Ebola

2024-03-28T21:06:23-04:00December 2nd, 2014|Categories: Dialysis, eNews, Lifestyle|Tags: |

Dialysis facilities have infection control policies and procedures in place to protect their patients and staff from coming in contact with any blood borne diseases, but diligence in following those policies and procedures is imperative to protect us all. Dialysis staff are instructed to treat all patients with standard precautions. These include gloves, masks over the nose and mouth, shields or goggles for eye protection and waterproof gowns whenever there is risk for exposure. Staff should wash their hands and change gloves between every patient to reduce the risk of transmission of any infectious material, in particular blood.  You should always [...]

Nominations Now Being Accepted For World Kidney Day 2015 Reception Honors

2024-03-28T21:06:24-04:00November 20th, 2014|Categories: eNews|Tags: |

Do you know of an exceptional patient or healthcare professional deserving of recognition for his or her contributions to the kidney community? Nominations are now being accepted for the Nancy L. Scott Award for Patient Education & Public Service as well as the Willem J. Kolff Award for Innovation and Exceptional Patient Care. This years winners will be honored at the World Kidney Day Reception coinciding with Dialysis Patient Citizens' annual patient fly-in. About the Nancy L. Scott Award for Patient Education & Public Service Nancy was instrumental in the creation of the DPC Education Center, and has worked tirelessly to empower [...]

Patient Engagement: Can innovative techniques empower patients to better manage their kidney disease?

2024-03-28T21:06:24-04:00October 23rd, 2014|Categories: eNews, Lifestyle, Physical Health|Tags: |

A new buzzword popular among health care leaders is “patient engagement,” sometimes referred to as “beneficiary engagement” when referring to Medicare beneficiaries.  What does this concept mean for kidney patients?  In general, patient engagement refers to transforming patients from passive recipients of health care to active partners, with their providers, in self-management of their disease.  We often hear from veteran dialysis patients that success in avoiding complications depends on the patient taking on an active role in his or her health care and working with clinicians on a “two-way street.” While this kind of active engagement is certainly typical among the [...]

Time For Your Flu Vaccine

2024-03-28T21:06:25-04:00October 23rd, 2014|Categories: eNews, Immunizations|

Flu season generally starts in October and ends in May. With all the recent news regarding the deadly Ebola virus on everyone’s mind, we need to remember that the flu virus can also be deadly – an estimated 36,000 people die each year from the flu. Individuals 65 and older and people with weakened immune systems such as heart, lung and kidney disease have an increased risk of becoming seriously ill from the flu. The good news is that you can get a vaccination for the flu, which should be received every year unless there is a specific allergy or contraindication [...]

Milestone Reached in Building Replacement Kidneys

2024-03-28T21:06:26-04:00September 18th, 2014|Categories: eNews, Kidney Transplant|Tags: , , |

"I like pigs.  Dogs look up to us, cats look down on us, pigs treat us as equals.” -Winston Churchill Could pigs be the answer to kidney replacements? Pig kidneys are roughly the same size as human kidneys. Testing in the past has been limited to rodent sized kidneys without much success.  Recently, testing with pig kidneys has proven more likely to match human needs for kidney replacement. Researchers are currently using only the structure of the pig kidney and filling in that structure with the recipient’s own cells to create a kidney that would not be rejected.  If proven successful, [...]

Don’t take Your Mental Health for Granted

2024-03-28T21:06:27-04:00September 18th, 2014|Categories: eNews, Lifestyle, Mental Health, Quality of Life|

End stage renal disease (ESRD) or kidney failure is the end of your kidney function, not your life.  As a result, the DPC Education Center entered into an exciting new collaboration with the American Psychological Association (APA).  We recently held our first joint webinar and Regional Meeting in Detroit. Click here to view the recorded webinar. The diagnosis of stage 5 kidney disease or ESRD can be devastating.  Grieving the loss of your kidney function is normal as long as it does not interfere with living your life to the fullest. Typically, the doctors focus on the physical aspects of your [...]

September is Disaster Preparedness Month

2024-03-28T21:06:28-04:00September 18th, 2014|Categories: eNews, Lifestyle, Quality of Life, Staying Healthy, Stress Management|Tags: |

Are you prepared for any disaster that might impact your life or your ability to dialyze?  Depending on where you live, there are many different types of disasters.  You and your family should have a plan in place and practice your plan so that when the need arises, you can stay calm and be prepared. You also should have alternative plans and specific means to communicate any changes that might occur.  Dialysis clinics are required to provide disaster plans to their patients and practice drills.  Your dialysis team will instruct you how to take yourself off of your dialysis machine if [...]

Setting up Your Home Dialysis Unit without Feeling like You’re Living in an ICU: Tackling the Storage Problem

2024-03-28T21:06:29-04:00May 28th, 2014|Categories: Home Hemodialysis|

By Linda Gromko, MD and Jane C. McClure, Interior Designer When Linda and her husband, Steve Williams, brought Steve’s dialysis machine home, they felt reasonably confident about the mechanics of home dialysis. But the next day – when sixteen cubic feet of dialysis supplies arrived, they felt overwhelmed! After all, who has even one extra storage closet just waiting to be used? How could they incorporate all this “stuff” into their already busy household? Sound familiar? (Now, it’s true that the newer procedure of preparing dialysate from tap water and storing a couple of batches under the machine will minimize the sheer quantity [...]

Mental Health Awareness Month

2024-03-28T21:06:30-04:00May 5th, 2014|Categories: eNews, Mental Health|

Mental health is defined by the World Health Organization as a state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. Mental health disorders are common in the United States, and each year approximately one quarter of the population suffers from one or more disorders.  Mental health is a taboo subject in American culture.  Many individuals are afraid to ask for help when they feel low or overwhelmed due to the stigma associated [...]

DPC Education Center

1001 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 1230 Washington, DC 20036

Phone: 1-855-291-3725

Fax: 1-888-423-5002

Web: Dialysis Patient Citizens Education Center

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