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About Hannah Bracamonte

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So far Hannah Bracamonte has created 590 blog entries.

Kidney Health Disparities

2024-03-28T21:07:04-04:00January 4th, 2013|Categories: eNews, News & Events, What Is Kidney Disease|

African American, Hispanic, American Indian and Alaska Native adults are twice as likely as white adults to have diabetes, which is the leading cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD). High blood pressure, obesity, and a family history of kidney disease are also major risk factors for CKD. Other factors that can lead to kidney failure include drug abuse, HIV, and sickle cell disease. CKD and its progression to kidney failure (also known as End Stage Renal Disease, or ESRD) is devastating and disproportionately affects minority communities. African Americans are 3.6 times more likely to have kidney failure. Hispanic Americans and Native Americans [...]

Low Blood Pressure – Intradialytic Hypotension

2024-03-28T21:07:05-04:00January 4th, 2013|Categories: eNews, Fact Sheet, Home Hemodialysis, Peritoneal Dialysis, What Causes Kidney Disease|Tags: |

By Dori Schatell, Medical Education Institute One of the main jobs of dialysis is to remove excess water from your body. Seems pretty simple, right? Like wringing out a wet towel? Of course, your body is more complex than a towel—and taking over a task that healthy kidneys did isn’t really so easy. Removing water can lower your blood pressure at dialysis, which can make you feel wretched during and even after a treatment. We’ll tell you why—and how you can stop it. Fluid in Your Body Maybe you’ve heard that the human body is made mostly of water. It’s [...]

The Power of Iron

2024-03-28T21:07:06-04:00January 4th, 2013|Categories: eNews, Fact Sheet, Nutrition, What Is Kidney Disease|

Why is iron so important in kidney disease? The answer is that iron can help with anemia (a lack of red blood cells), which is a common problem for people with kidney disease. Anemia can be a significant problem for you as a kidney patient because of the nature of kidney disease. The kidneys have four basic functions: Removal of waste products Maintain fluid balance Restore electrolyte and acid/base balance Stimulate the release of certain hormones The dialysis process takes care of the first three functions. The hormone erythropoietin (or “EPO”) stimulates your bone marrow to produce red blood cells. Your [...]

High Blood Pressure and Chronic Kidney Disease

2024-03-28T21:07:07-04:00January 4th, 2013|Categories: eNews, Fact Sheet, What Causes Kidney Disease|Tags: |

Blood pressure is the measure of how much pressure or force your heart needs to use to push your blood through your blood vessels.  High blood pressure – a serious medical condition in which the force needed to move the blood is too high, making the heart work extra hard – is one of the top causes of chronic kidney disease (CKD).  When blood pressure is too high, it can cause the walls of blood vessels to thicken and become stiff and can also damage other organs throughout the body. If a person’s kidneys are damaged by diabetes, this can [...]

Treating Anemia

2024-03-28T21:07:08-04:00January 4th, 2013|Categories: eNews, Fact Sheet, What Causes Kidney Disease|Tags: |

This fact sheet answers some questions for people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) or on dialysis who are receiving Erythropoiesis Stimulating Agents (ESAs) to treat their anemia.  This fact sheet also provides some questions to help you talk with your doctor or anemia management nurse about your treatment. Why am I getting this information? You are getting this information because you have been prescribed an ESA or you and your doctor may be considering whether you should take one.  The common brand names for these drugs are Aranesp®, Procrit® and Epogen®. You may have heard or read about risks with [...]

Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease

2024-03-28T21:07:09-04:00January 4th, 2013|Categories: eNews, Fact Sheet, What Causes Kidney Disease|Tags: |

People with diabetes have a greater risk of developing serious problems with their kidneys. In fact, diabetes is one of the leading causes of chronic kidney disease (also called CKD). To better understand why diabetes is a top cause of CKD, it is important to know more about diabetes and how it can damage your kidneys. Diabetes is a disease that affects a person’s sugar levels (also called blood glucose levels). There are two main types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes occurs when the pancreas (an organ in the body behind the stomach) does not make insulin any longer. Type 2 [...]

Be Prepared During an Emergency with this Meal Plan for Dialysis Patients

2024-03-28T21:07:09-04:00December 20th, 2012|Categories: eNews, News & Events, Nutrition, Staying Healthy|Tags: |

Emergencies happen every day and the more prepared you are for an emergency the better your outcome will be. Depending on the situation and on the stage of your kidney disease, you may be without your normal clinic or unable to grab all of your home supplies. You should have an emergency survival kit that includes: Food and water for each person for three days Flashlight with fresh batteries First aid kit Three days’ worth of medications Prescriptions and instructions to administer in case you are unable to communicate Emergency numbers for your doctors and or dialysis center If you are a [...]

Following a Diet as a Transplant Patient

2024-03-28T21:07:10-04:00December 20th, 2012|Categories: eNews, Kidney Transplant, News & Events, Nutrition, Staying Healthy|

After you receive a transplant, it is possible that many of the diet restrictions you had during dialysis will disappear. This however, doesn’t mean that proper nutrition is any less important.  Also, if you have other conditions like hypertension and diabetes, you will need to continue following those diet restrictions. Taking immunosuppressants and anti-rejection medications. (1) To keep your new organ healthy, you will need to take an immunosuppressant drug.  Just like the name sounds it suppresses your body’s immune system response to your new organ.  Even with careful matching your body won’t recognize the new kidney as its own and will [...]

Questions Patients Should Ask Their Healthcare Providers

2024-03-28T21:07:11-04:00December 17th, 2012|Categories: eNews, Medication|

It is critical to be an active and engaged participant in your own care. Reading this article will help you make sure you are getting the care you need. Any time new medicines or tests are ordered for you, it is important to ask questions. It can be intimidating to ask doctors or nurses these questions, but you are not able to make informed decisions without all of the facts. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's (AHRQ), part of the part of the Department of Health and Human Services, was created to help with this process. The AHRQ has developed [...]

Medicare by the Letter

2025-01-30T16:37:27-05:00December 17th, 2012|Categories: Costs for Treatment, eNews|Tags: |

Part A Medicare part A is designed to help cover expenses for institutional care. These mean hospitals, skilled nursing facilities after a hospital stay, hospice and home health care. For people who paid Medicare taxes (or their spouse did) while working this coverage does not cost any money. A person might also be able to buy this coverage if they are disabled and meet residency requirements. People who are receiving disability from Social Security or the Railroad Retirement Board will automatically receive information near the time they will become eligible for Medicare. Those who are not receiving retirement benefits should [...]

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