ARTS & FARCES internet

Yeah, well, not like you think.

Harvard Medical School researchers report in the February 4, 2009 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association that high-altitude dialysis is linked to fewer deaths in dialysis patients.

In examining the medical records of 804,812 dialysis patients and after a median follow-up of 1.78 years, the researchers found that relative mortality rates fell from 0.7 for dialysis patients living at 76-609 meters to 0.85 for dialysis patients living higher than 1,828 meters when compared with dialysis patients living at less than 76 meters. Dialysis patients living at the highest altitudes were 15% less likely to die than those at the lowest altitudes.

Patients at high altitudes don’t just have lower mortality rates, they require lower dosages of erythropoietin as well. This may be because hypoxia, the blood oxygen deficiency that occurs at high altitudes, may make the erythropoietin more effective.

The researchers speculate that the findings may be explained by “increased iron availability caused by activation of hypoxia-induced factors at high altitude,” and conclude by proposing that “hypoxia-inducible factors are persistent at high altitude in patients with end-stage renal disease and may confer protective effects.”

The lead researcher, Wolfgang C. Winkelmayer, disclosed conflicts of interest with Amgen (the manufacturer of Epogen), Fresenius Medical Care (manufacturer of dialysis machines and dialysis provider), GlaxoSmithKline, Roche, and Genzyme. Another of the researchers disclosed conflicts of interest with Amgen.

So get me high, already.