Hi, I am wondering if the nxstage machine would remove middle molecules if you are doing a short dialysis’s. I have been told that the in the first couple of hours during dialysis, potassium, urea fluid are removed, but the middle molecules are not (for eg:beta-2 microglobulin), this one causes arthritis and even carpal tunnel syndrome and can be a major source of morbidity in long term dialysis patients. There are other middle molecules that cause problems for your immune system. I have heard that these need a high flux dialyser and longer hours to be removed from the body. So, my way of thinking tells me that you might be feeling great because you have dialysis everyday, but in the long term. Your body is building up middle molecules and it will eventually affect you in a bad way. So, does this mean that Nxstage machine are good for short term, but not long term use. Has anyone had their blood checked to see if they have a build up these molecules?
The NxStage website has information on short and long treatments and the benefits of each at www.nxstage.com/markets/chronic-renal-failure.asp. According to the website, long treatments remove more B2M and more phosphate than short daily treatments according to their review of studies. Another thing that has been linked to improvement in B2M is ultrapure dialysate. Many of the new machines that do daily and nocturnal dialysis offer this. In addition to carpal tunnel, B2M may be a factor in memory loss and Alzheimer’s disease. Whether you do daily or nocturnal dialysis, using ultrapure dialysate seems to be very important.
I don’t know that there are “Many machines” that remove middle molecules on short daily dialysis, but I do know of “ONE” That is the Aksys PHD machine. They are currently the only machine on the market that you can use the ultrapure infusable quality dialysate for injections such as priming, solution infusions and rinseback at the end of treatment.