Hi y’all,
Gus wrote:
YOU CAN’T STOP BONE DISEASE ON DIALYSIS PATIENTS, YOU CAN ONLY SLOW IT DOWN…
I wonder, actually.
– Years ago, we didn’t know about binders. Now, folks who learn about their kidney disease at stage 3 or 4 can start taking them even before their kidneys fail.
– We have better, more accurate measures of parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels now, to guide therapy.
– We have therapies to offer–vitamin D analogues to replace what the kidneys can no longer make, plus cinacalcet (Sensipar) to make the parathyroid glands themselves more sensitive to calcium that is present in the blood.
It seems to me that if we can maintain something close to normal physiologic levels of calcium, phosphorus, and PTH, that it should be possible to prevent the need for parathyroidectomy and the bone disease that can occur over the long term. When I get a chance, I’ll see if I can track down some of my old bone disease contacts and see if anyone can answer this question for us.