Comment: Dietary restriction in renal failure: un piccolo sacrificio
John Bradley
pp 3-3
In 1963, Giordano described the reduction in uraemia that followed he introduction of a low protein diet providing essential amino acids. The following year, Giovannetti and Maggiore reported the effects of a low protein diet in eight patients with advanced kidney failure.
|
Cephalic arch stenosis: a practical review of an evolving disease
Andrew J Jackson, Emma L Aitken, Ram Kasthuri and David B Kingsmore
pp 4-8
Arteriovenous fistulae (AVF) are the modality of choice for haemodialysis.1 However, dysfunctional AVF represents one of the leading causes of morbidity in the haemodialysis population; venous stenosis-related dysfunction being the most common underlying problem. Forty per cent of venous stenoses occur within the first few centimetres of the anastomosis. However, the cephalic arch has been increasingly recognised as a site where venous stenosis readily occurs.
|
Polycystic kidney disease and orofaciodigital syndrome type 1
María M Adeva, Izak J Bisschoff, Elvira Castro, David Mouriño and Deborah J Morris-Rosendahl
pp 9-14
Orofaciodigital syndrome type 1 (OFDS1) is an X-linked disorder caused by mutations in the orofaciodigital gene that was first reported in 1954 by Papillon-Léage and Psaume. Although males do not typically survive beyond fetal stages, a few patients have survived until shortly after birth, and one unusual case of OFDS1 has been reported in a living male with two X chromosomes.
|
What I tell my patients about generic medicines
Charlotte Mallindine
pp 15-17
Most medicines are called by two or more different names: a generic (or non-proprietary) name, such as paracetamol, and a brand (or trade) name, such as Panadol®. This can be confusing. The generic name is the approved name of the medicine and is often linked to the class of medicines to which it belongs, while the brand name is the name given to the medicine by the manufacturer. The brand name is often easier to spell or pronounce than the generic name, and is intended to be more memorable for marketing purposes.
|
Chronic kidney disease: a ten-year study of aetiology and epidemiological trends in Lagos, Nigeria
Christiana Oluwatoyin Amira, Babawale Taslim Bello and Rotimi William Braimoh
pp 19-23
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) constitutes a serious public health problem associated with rising incidence and prevalence, high cost of treatment and poor outcomes. In the last decade, there has been an exponential increase in the incidence and prevalence of CKD worldwide, such that CKD has assumed epidemic proportions in both developing and developed countries.
|
20/20 vision
Donal O’Donoghue
pp 24-25
The NHS Five Year Forward View, recently published by NHS England, scopes out a vision for the health service up to 2020. In the report, Simon Stevens, Chief Executive of NHS England, draws on his experience as a health service manager and policy advisor in the UK, and running American insurer United Health’s global operations in the US, to describe how things are likely to pan out over the next five years. It is an easy read and to an extent there are no surprises. However, many commentators have argued that it is aimed more at our political parties, as they gear up for the general election in May, than it is for those of us working in the service. I disagree – it is for both audiences, as it should be; our taxes pay for the NHS. To suggest that the NHS is somehow immune from the pressures on other public services, or that following the 2012 Health and Social Care Act, the NHS is independent of politics is absurd. Health is highly political and along with the economy, which is vital for the functioning of the health and care system, the NHS will be a major battleground in the forthcoming election campaign.
|
Supporting patient choice for 30 years of renal replacement therapy
Nelomi Anandagoda and Mike K Almond
pp 27-30
End-stage renal failure (ESRF) is a loss of kidney function requiring treatment with long-term dialysis or kidney transplantation. The UK Renal Registry data (2012) states that 54,824 adult patients required renal replacement therapy (RRT) in 2012, with an adult prevalence in the UK of 861 per million population, figures which rise year on year. Transplantation was the most common treatment modality, accounting for 50.4% of all patients requiring RRT for ESRF, with haemodialysis coming second (12.7% of all patients requiring RRT for ESRF) and peritoneal dialysis third (6.9% of all patients requiring RRT for ESRF). Interest- ingly, the data suggest that a growing number of patients are opting for conservative care.
|