Study hope for kidney patients
DIALYSIS LINK TO HEART PROBLEMS EXAMINED
RESEARCHERS in Leicester are to study if giving dialysis to kidney failure patients overnight will reduce the damage to their heart.
Most patients typically have four hours of dialysis, three times a week, through daytime appointments at a hospital or clinic.
Although dialysis is necessary to keep these people alive, it can lead to scarring of the heart, which can build up over time and cause heart failure.
Researchers believe this damage is caused by having to remove water and waste products quickly during the standard four-hour treatment.
Carrying out this procedure during the day can also have a detrimental impact on a patient’s quality of life.
The NightLife trial at the University of Leicester, supported by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, is assessing the effect of dialysis overnight on patient quality of life and costs to the NHS.
The study involves 350 patients and will see 200 of these having six to eight hours of dialysis while they sleep, three times a week.
The other patients will have dialysis during the daytime.
The British Heart Foundation has awarded almost £150,000 to the researchers in Leicester, who will carry out MRI scans to determine if having dialysis for an extended period overnight reduces scarring.
Researchers will carry out the scans on both sets of patients at the start and end of the trial, with the funding also ensuring additional blood tests can be carried out on these patients to identify heart and circulatory diseases.
The research is being led by Dr Matt Graham-Brown, NIHR academic clinical lecturer and honorary consultant nephrologist at the University of Leicester. Dr GrahamBrown said: “Dialysis is a crucial, life-saving procedure for people living with kidney failure, but it can also have a severe impact on their hearts.
“The procedure is also very burdensome for patients, who must sacrifice a large amount of time and energy to undergo it.
“By extending the length of time over which the dialysis takes place, the removal of water and waste products can be done more slowly, and this may reduce the build-up of scarring in the heart.
“If we can improve this, then it is likely to improve survival, as statistics show that heart disease is the leading cause of death in people living with kidney failure.
“Importantly this new way of delivering dialysis frees up time for patients during the day, giving them more free time to socialise, work and care for others.
“Overall, we expect the NightLife trial to influence the way dialysis is delivered for patients to improve quality of life and important patient outcomes.”