Study finds ESRD patients less likely to get cardiovascular medicine

By Michael Fraase

Wednesday, 23 July 2008 08:36PM CST

Section: ESRD

Heart attackKevin McKeever, writing for HealthDay News, reports a study published by the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology found kidney failure patients are less likely to receive recommended medications after a heart attack. Even though kidney function is a known risk factor for cardiovascular events, end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients are “often deprived of heart-protecting medicines such as beta blockers and cholesterol-lowering statins.”

“The researchers analyzed data on medication use after a heart attack, or myocardial infarction, in approximately 21,500 patients, 17 percent of whom had kidney disease. After adjustment for other factors, those with chronic kidney disease were 22 percent less likely to start beta blocker treatment. Those with end-stage renal disease were 43 percent less likely to be treated with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers and 17 percent less likely to be put on statins.”

Why?

Meanwhile, Frank Sietzen Jr. has written a pretty good hemodialysis overview for the Washington Post. My experience over the past eight years matches Sietzen’s, except I use larger (14-gauge) needles.

Having recently started using the buttonhole needle placement technique (needles, my ass; they’re big as nails), I’m finding that it’s less painful and I have fewer bleeding problems at the end of each dialysis run.

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