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For Dialysis Patients: Update on COVID-19, Delta Variant and Vaccination

2024-03-28T20:58:59-04:00September 4th, 2021|Categories: eNews, Immunizations, Physical Health, Staying Healthy|Tags: |

Written by: Alan S. Kliger, M.D., Clinical Professor of Medicine, Yale School of Medicine, and Co-Chair, American Society of Nephrology (ASN) COVID-19 Response Team. COVID-19 continues to be a dangerous infection for dialysis patients. Here are some facts every patient should know: Why should I get vaccinated now if I’ve been waiting so far? The vaccines clearly protect dialysis patients, particularly by greatly reducing hospitalizations, complications and death from COVID-19 infection. If you’ve been waiting to see if the vaccine is safe, there have now been hundreds of millions of people vaccinated, with almost no severe complications from the vaccine. Did [...]

FDA Authorizes Third Dose “Booster Shots” of Pfizer and Moderna Vaccines for Immunocompromised Individuals

2024-03-28T20:59:01-04:00August 13th, 2021|Categories: eNews, Immunizations, Staying Healthy|Tags: |

On Thursday, August 12, 2021, the FDA updated the emergency-use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines. Americans with compromised immune systems are now eligible for a third dose, or booster shot, of these vaccines. This broadened EUA includes individuals who are kidney transplant recipients or have other diagnosed conditions that are considered to be of “equivalent level of immunocompromise.” This decision was made after a thorough review of the available data, in order to allow doctors to boost the immunity of some of their most vulnerable patients who need extra protection from COVID-19. Many transplant patients have been [...]

One Step Closer to a Wearable Artificial Kidney

2024-03-28T20:59:02-04:00August 11th, 2021|Categories: Dialysis, eNews, Home Hemodialysis|

For the past 20 years, Victor Gura, MD, FASN, an associate clinical professor of medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, has been working on a wearable artificial kidney, or WAK. Gura has been through multiple iterations - from prototype 1.0, which weighed over 200 pounds, to prototype 2.0, which weighed 11 pounds and was tested in clinical trials in Italy, London, and Seattle, to the latest version, WAK 3.0. Weighing in at just 2 pounds and powered by a rechargeable battery, WAK 3.0 was issued patent number 10,993,183 for a combination wearable and stationary dialysis system. The description [...]

Here’s why the CDC recommends wearing masks indoors even if you’ve been fully vaccinated against COVID-19

2024-03-28T20:59:03-04:00August 1st, 2021|Categories: eNews, Immunizations, Lifestyle, Staying Healthy|Tags: |

By Peter Chin-Hong, University of California, San Francisco. What science supports masking after vaccination? Masks help stop the spread of the coronavirus. They’re a literal layer between you and any virus in the air and can help prevent infection. The reason public health officials are calling for more mask-wearing is that there is clear and mounting evidence that – though rare – breakthrough COVID-19 infections can occur in people who are fully vaccinated. This is particularly true with emerging variants of concern. The good news is that COVID-19 infection, if it does happen, is much less likely to lead to serious illness or death in vaccinated people. Some [...]

Artificial Intelligence and Kidney Health

2024-03-28T20:59:04-04:00July 1st, 2021|Categories: eNews, Treatment|

Nephrologists know that treating their patients means addressing not only kidney health, but also including comorbidity issues such as vascular access issues, phosphorous levels, and fluid levels. Now, new artificial intelligence (AI) technologies can actually help health care providers not only manage these issues, but also help reduce the risk of recurrence. AI can assist in the analyzation and interpretation of studies and data collected on a patient in order to look at the body in a more collective way. All of this data is used to create what is called a “mathematical twin” of the patient, which allows health care [...]

If You’ve Gotten a COVID-19 Vaccine, Don’t Get an Antibody Test

2024-03-28T20:59:06-04:00June 9th, 2021|Categories: eNews, Immunizations|Tags: |

Thanks to the COVID-19 vaccines, life is beginning to look a little more like it did pre-pandemic and people are out and about as many states start opening back up. Some people are uncertain about the effectiveness of the vaccine or its ability to protect against different variants and have considered antibody tests as a way to check the effectiveness of their vaccine. Public health officials are urging fully vaccinated people not to get antibody tests though, as they have limitations. Antibody tests are a great way to understand if someone has been previously infected with coronavirus and didn’t know at [...]

Ask Your Nephrologist: What is happening to my skin and nails?

2024-03-28T20:59:08-04:00May 19th, 2021|Categories: Dialysis, Kidney Transplant, Physical Health, The Kidney Citizen|

Keith A. Bellovich, DO There is a broad range of skin manifestations when having to depend on dialysis. Skin disorders can affect a patient's quality of life and can negatively impact their mental and physical health. Itching (uremic pruritus) is by far the most common complaint that patients suffer. But dry skin (xerosis cutis) and skin discoloration are also common complaints in patient with severe loss of kidney function. Dry skin is caused by reduction in the size of sweat glands and atrophy of sebaceous or oil producing glands. Dry skin increases the susceptibility to infections and this is aggravated by [...]

CMS Makes it Easier for Consumers to Find Prices on Hospital Services

2024-03-28T20:59:09-04:00May 11th, 2021|Categories: Costs for Treatment, eNews|

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a new rule on hospital price transparency that went into effect January 1, 2021. Under a section of the Public Health Service Act (PHSA), hospitals are required to publish a list of standard charges each year. Originally, hospitals could fill this requirement just by publishing their chargemaster list (a comprehensive list of all products, procedures, and services provided by a hospital) online; now, however, hospitals are told exactly what they are required to publish, and how to publish it, in order to comply with the PHSA. Hospitals must publish the following five [...]

COVID-19 Vaccines for Dialysis and Transplant Patients – What We Know

2024-03-28T20:59:10-04:00May 3rd, 2021|Categories: eNews, Immunizations, Staying Healthy|Tags: |

As more and more people in the United States receive the COVID-19 vaccine, researchers have been able to learn more about efficacy rates in different patient populations. Unfortunately, preliminary research suggests that efficacy rates may be lower in both dialysis and transplant patients. In a small study, published April 6, 2021 on CJASN ePress, researchers found that, although study participants on hemodialysis did develop a substantial antibody response following two doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech mRNA vaccine, it was significantly lower than the response of the control group comprised of participants not on dialysis. It was also found that older patients, regardless [...]

There Is No Place Like Home

2024-03-28T20:59:12-04:00April 19th, 2021|Categories: Home Hemodialysis, Peritoneal Dialysis, The Kidney Citizen|

By Shaminder Gupta, MD, Nephrologist End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) is a life changing diagnosis and impacts both the patient and the family. While waiting for renal transplantation, renal replacement therapy (RRT) is required to sustain life. RRT, also known as dialysis, can be provided either in-center or at home. Home therapies can either be via peritoneum (PD) or via fistula (HHD). Patients are concerned about their own abilities to provide this life sustaining therapy on their own. This is natural and should be anticipated as a barrier. Most of us, including medical professionals, would also share these apprehensions. Success at [...]

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