Roman Byst
Thu, Mar-24-05, 17:16
http://www.healthsentinel.com/news.php?event=news_print_list_-
item&id=701
Angela Stewart, "Vitamin D saving kidney patients", New Jersey
Star Ledger, March 24, 2005, Link: http://www.nj.com/news/led-
ger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1111643816249841.xml
Giving patients with chronic kidney disease an intravenous
form of vitamin D while they undergo dialysis can help them
live longer, a new study has found.
Of the more than 50,000 patients in the study who received
this active form of the vitamin, 76 percent were still alive
two years after the start of their treatment, compared with 59
percent for those who did not get the vitamin.
"Vitamin D deficiency is incredibly common in the population
we treat with kidney failure, and we should look at the
possibility that this important vitamin may confer a
survival benefit," said lead researcher Ravi Thadhani,
director of nephrology research at Massachusetts General
Hospital in Boston and assistant professor of medicine at
Harvard Medical School.
The research, funded entirely by Massachusetts General,
appears in the April issue of the Journal of the American
Society of Nephrology. The articles also stress that the
amount of vitamin D administered must be closely monitored as
toxicity can occur in excessive doses.
About 20 million Americans suffer from chronic kidney disease,
and more than 300,000 are on dialysis, according to the
National Kidney Foundation, which stresses early detection as
a means of preventing kidney failure.
Individuals with kidney disease have a difficult time
converting the vitamin D absorbed from sources such as the sun
into an activated form their bodies can use.
Vitamin D has been shown in previous studies to improve the
health of blood vessels, reduce inflammation and strengthen
bones, Thadhani said.
Yet, only about half of dialysis patients receive vitamin D
because the therapy is recommended only for patients with
elevated levels of parathyroid, a hormone that controls
calcium levels, Thadhani noted.
Richard Sherman, a nephrologist and professor of medicine at
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick,
said using some level of vitamin D in all dialysis patients
makes sense to him.
"Even if they don't fall into the category of requiring it to
control their parathyroid, it might be good," he said.
One of his patients, Yani Antouw, 62, of South Plainfield,
certainly thinks so. He was diagnosed with kidney disease in
1999 and has been getting vitamin D infusions ever since he
started dialysis a year later at Robert Wood Johnson
University Hospital.
"I became stronger than even before those times I was sick,"
he said, adding that he even felt well enough to complete his
post-graduate studies in psychology.
Thadhani and his colleagues looked at patients who started
dialysis at centers across the country between 1996 and 1999.
They were followed until 2002, with more than 37,000 of them
receiving vitamin D through an intravenous tube during their
dialysis treatment.
Thadhani stressed that the survival benefit seen in the study
means doctors need to be more aggressive in treating patients
who meet the current treatment protocol. But before a broader
treatment recommendation is made, Thadhani said, there need to
be randomized clinical trials involving patients undergoing
dialysis so researchers can investigate the specific mechanism
that confers the survival benefit.
"We need to look further into ways of reducing mortality
in this high-risk population. The study sheds light on
one potential opportunity where we can make a
difference," he said.
Angela Stewart writes about health care. She may be
reached by e- mail at astewart@starledger.com or by
calling (973) 392-4178.
item&id=701
Angela Stewart, "Vitamin D saving kidney patients", New Jersey
Star Ledger, March 24, 2005, Link: http://www.nj.com/news/led-
ger/jersey/index.ssf?/base/news-9/1111643816249841.xml
Giving patients with chronic kidney disease an intravenous
form of vitamin D while they undergo dialysis can help them
live longer, a new study has found.
Of the more than 50,000 patients in the study who received
this active form of the vitamin, 76 percent were still alive
two years after the start of their treatment, compared with 59
percent for those who did not get the vitamin.
"Vitamin D deficiency is incredibly common in the population
we treat with kidney failure, and we should look at the
possibility that this important vitamin may confer a
survival benefit," said lead researcher Ravi Thadhani,
director of nephrology research at Massachusetts General
Hospital in Boston and assistant professor of medicine at
Harvard Medical School.
The research, funded entirely by Massachusetts General,
appears in the April issue of the Journal of the American
Society of Nephrology. The articles also stress that the
amount of vitamin D administered must be closely monitored as
toxicity can occur in excessive doses.
About 20 million Americans suffer from chronic kidney disease,
and more than 300,000 are on dialysis, according to the
National Kidney Foundation, which stresses early detection as
a means of preventing kidney failure.
Individuals with kidney disease have a difficult time
converting the vitamin D absorbed from sources such as the sun
into an activated form their bodies can use.
Vitamin D has been shown in previous studies to improve the
health of blood vessels, reduce inflammation and strengthen
bones, Thadhani said.
Yet, only about half of dialysis patients receive vitamin D
because the therapy is recommended only for patients with
elevated levels of parathyroid, a hormone that controls
calcium levels, Thadhani noted.
Richard Sherman, a nephrologist and professor of medicine at
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School in New Brunswick,
said using some level of vitamin D in all dialysis patients
makes sense to him.
"Even if they don't fall into the category of requiring it to
control their parathyroid, it might be good," he said.
One of his patients, Yani Antouw, 62, of South Plainfield,
certainly thinks so. He was diagnosed with kidney disease in
1999 and has been getting vitamin D infusions ever since he
started dialysis a year later at Robert Wood Johnson
University Hospital.
"I became stronger than even before those times I was sick,"
he said, adding that he even felt well enough to complete his
post-graduate studies in psychology.
Thadhani and his colleagues looked at patients who started
dialysis at centers across the country between 1996 and 1999.
They were followed until 2002, with more than 37,000 of them
receiving vitamin D through an intravenous tube during their
dialysis treatment.
Thadhani stressed that the survival benefit seen in the study
means doctors need to be more aggressive in treating patients
who meet the current treatment protocol. But before a broader
treatment recommendation is made, Thadhani said, there need to
be randomized clinical trials involving patients undergoing
dialysis so researchers can investigate the specific mechanism
that confers the survival benefit.
"We need to look further into ways of reducing mortality
in this high-risk population. The study sheds light on
one potential opportunity where we can make a
difference," he said.
Angela Stewart writes about health care. She may be
reached by e- mail at astewart@starledger.com or by
calling (973) 392-4178.