• Wear protective gear such as gloves, scrub suits, lab coats or aprons
• Wear gowns and protective eyewear and masks when blood splashes are likely
• Put on a fresh pair of gloves for each direct patient encounter
• Wash hands when entering the patient area, when starting or completing patient care, before leaving the work area and between patients
• Dispose of needles or other sharp instruments in purchase-resistant containers located close to dialysis area
• Never recap needles

Similar safety procedures are currently in use to control the spread of infection of Hepatitis B in dialysis units. The HIV/AIDS virus is spread much less readily than Hepatitis B in dialysis unites because the blood of a person infected with HIV/AIDS has fewer infectious viral particles than does the blood of someone with Hepatitis B. In addition, all blood donations are being screened for the HIV/AIDS antibody making any blood transfusion as safe as possible.

• The presence of development of unrelated disease that causes unrelenting pain and suffering (such as widespread cancer), extreme physical disability (such as severe stroke or multiple amputations), or will cause a difficult death in a very short period of time.
• Such severe dementia that they are unable to relate to others or to understand their own illness and the necessary dialysis treatment (e.g., dementia from Alzheimer’s disease or as a result of multiple strokes)
• The occurrence of such severe brain injury that they are permanently unconscious (e.g., from an automobile accident or from a cardiac or pulmonary arrest).

Fortunately, these various conditions, with rare exception (such as a stroke in a dialysis patient with uncontrolled hypertension or blindness and amputations in a severe diabetic), are no more common in patients with end-stage renal disease. They do occur, however, just as they do in other people or in otherwise healthy individuals, and one should prepare for unexpected as well as for foreseeable problems.

You can choose to learn to make their own hemodialysis treatments at home. When you are the only patient, it may become more frequent dialysis treatments or lasting almost replaced the normal work performed by healthy kidneys. Daytime hemodialysis at home (DHHD for short in English) is performed 5-7 days a week for 2 to 3 hours per session and you organize the schedule. If your health insurance plan would pay more than three treatments, you could be brief treatments during the morning or afternoon. Nocturnal home hemodialysis (NHHD by its acronym in English) is done in 3-6 nights a week while you sleep. Whether you choose the DHHD or NHHD, this will allow food and a normal fluid intake, with fewer blood pressure medications and other health problems. Most programs ask patients to do home hemodialysis have a skilled attendant during treatments. Learning to be hemodialysis is like learning to drive a car: it takes a few weeks and, initially, is alarming but then becomes a routine. The dialysis center provides the equipment and training, and assistance by phone 24 hours if you have any questions or problems. New machines for home dialysis are smaller and easier to use than the equipment used in schools.

You have options of dialysis centers and many cities have more than one site to choose from. You can visit a center to see if there are treatments you want or the time it needs. Some centers allow the use of laptops or cell phones or receive visits, others not. Medicare has a list of all centers in the United States on its Web site at www.medicare.gov / dialysis (in English), which shows the quality ratings of each school. Your health plan may have a list of sites where you can go. If you choose a treatment option in a school, it must be near your home to reduce your travel time. If the treatment is done at home, once you are trained, you should only go to the center once a month. So, the center can be as far as you want to travel once a month.

Possible Complications of Dialysis
Vascular access problems are the most common reason for hospitalization among people receiving hemodialysis. Some common problems include infection, blockage by clotting and poor circulation. These problems may prevent their treatments to succeed. You might have to undergo repeated surgeries to achieve a properly functioning access.

Other problems may be caused by rapid changes in water and chemical balance of your body during treatment. Muscle cramps and hypotension (a sudden drop in blood pressure) are two common side effects. Hypotension can make you feel weak, dizzy or sick to your stomach.

Probably need a few months to adjust to hemodialysis. Side effects can often be dealt with swiftly and easily, so you should inform your doctor and dialysis staff suffered any side effects. You can avoid many side effects if you follow a proper diet, limiting fluid intake and taking medications as directed.

Physicians’ services also are covered while you are receiving dialysis treatment. Medicare pays for these services via a monthly capitation payment. The amount is paid regardless of whether a patient dialyzes as an outpatient in a dialysis facility, or at home. Under this method, Medicare pays 80% of a physician’s monthly payment less any unmet Part B deductible. A patient pays any unmet Part B deductible plus the remaining 20% of the monthly payment. If a physician accepts assignment, Medicare will pay them directly, and you may not be charged more than the unmet Part B deductible plus 20% of the monthly capitation payment. (Assignment means that a doctor accepts the payment approved by Medicare as the total payment). If a physician does not accept assignment, you receive the payment and there is no limit on the amount that can be charged.

If you’re admitted to a hospital because you medical condition requires the availability of other specialized hospital services on an inpatient basis, the maintenance dialysis treatments would be covered by hospital insurance (Part A), as part of the costs of the covered inpatient hospital stay. While you are hospitalized, a physician may elect to be paid for each individual service that they provide. In such a case, a physician receives a prorated portion of the monthly capitation payment, reduced in proportion to the total number of days that you are hospitalized.

Medicare and Self-Care Dialysis

If people participate in a self-care training program within the first three months after treatment has begun with the intention of doing self-care (aka “home”) dialysis, Medicare benefits will start during the month that the self-care training begins.

When a monitor indicates an alarm, dialysis may be automatically stopped. In most cases, the problem is not immediately dangerous to you and can be quickly corrected by the staff. The combination of the monitors and the supervision of the staff helps to make dialysis treatment comfortable and safe.

The venous pressure monitor and the arterial pressure monitor measure the pressure of the blood as it flows through the dialyzer. If there is a break, kind or any obstruction in the blood lines or in the dialyzer, the pressure changes and the monitors send out an alarm to alert both you and the staff. The temperature monitor indicates an alarm if the dialysate solution is either too hot or too cold. Because the blood normally cools when it leaves the body through the blood lines, it must be rewarmed to the normal body temperature before it is returned to the body. This is accomplished by heating the dialysate solution, which, in turn, rewarms the blood. The negative pressure monitor shows the amount of suction or negative pressure used to remove the excess fluid from the body. An alarm sounds if this pressure changes. Another very important device on the artificial kidney machine is the blood leak monitor, which sets off an alarm if any blood leaks into the dialysate solution through a tear in the dialyzer membrane. The conductivity monitor indicates the concentration of substances in the dialysate solution. The air detector detects any air or foam that might pass through the system. This detector not only indicates an alarm, but also has an automatic device that clamps the blood line returning to the body to prevent air from being pushed into the vein. It may be frightening when an alarm sounds, but rest assured that the monitors are designed to protect you and to make treatment as safe and comfortable as possible.

There are, however, some disadvantages to peritoneal dialysis. There is a possibility of weight gain (fat) caused by the high amounts of dextrose, or sugar content, of the dialysate. Older people and diabetics require testing of their blood-sugar level as some of the dextrose in the dialysate is absorbed into the bloodstream and can raise the blood sugar to very high levels. Diabetics, however, may add insulin directly to the dialysis solution.

There are some potential catheter-related problems as well. Infections can occur at the catheter site at the external part of the abdomen. In most cases, these infections can easily be treated with antibiotics. The most serious problem that can occur is peritonitis or an infection that develops inside the abdominal cavity. Peritonitis must be treated with antibiotics, although, in the majority of cases, hospitalization is not necessary. When peritonitis is very severe, however, hospitalization is often advised and you may be dialyzed on a machine continuously with antibiotics in the dialysate, and, sometimes, intravenously as well. The risk of peritonitis can be reduced by using the prescribed sterile technique and the close monitoring of your physician.

Which is the best type of peritoneal dialysis?

The type of peritoneal dialysis you choose depends on your medical condition and personal choice. Consult your physician and nurses in the field to help you make an informed decision that will suit your particular needs best.

In the beginning stages of renal disease, it is not uncommon for patients to suffer from insomnia due to the body’s toxins invading the bloodstream and vital organs as the kidneys fail to properly process them.

As kidney disease progresses further, patients often experience high blood pressure as a subsequent result of failed kidney function. High blood pressure can put serious strain on the heart which in turn may cause chemicals in the brain to prevent proper rest.

For those patients that undergo dialysis treatments, they may experience trouble sleeping as a result of leg pain and cramps that tend to come at night. They may also feel the need to stretch or kick their legs at night which can disrupt their sleep (as well as the sleep of their partner).

Some kidney patients may be prescribed medication to treat their insomnia. It is critical that those suffering from kidney problems view insomnia as a potentially serious threat and not just an inconvenience.

Other alternatives to treat insomnia include natural sleep aids that can be acquired without a prescription. Consult your physician to determine which treatment option may be best for you.