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Dialysis center expansion planned - Wilkes Journal Patriot |
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Posted: Wednesday, May 27, 2015 2:17 pm | Updated: 2:19 pm, Wed May 27, 2015.
Dialysis center expansion planned Emily Storrow journalpatriot |
Wilkes Regional Medical Center officials shared plans for expanding the hospital’s dialysis center in a board of directors’ meeting Tuesday night.
The plans include five new hemodialysis chairs at the Donald Gene Jarvis Dialysis Unit at West Park in North Wilkesboro, bringing the center’s total to 24, said WRMC Vice President Tammy Love.
Dialysis is a common treatment method for people with kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease.
Ms. Love said the center has seen an increase in the number of patients, and has been scheduling after-hour care to accommodate the increase.
WRMC received approval from the state to add the five chairs, allowing the center to treat more patients during regular hours. WRMC President and CEO Gene Faile said the expansion could be ready by early winter.
WRMC Chief Financial Officer Barry Wald said the project is expected to cost just over $517,000. Tuesday, the WRMC board of directors okayed his request to apply for a $250,000 grant from the Health Foundation Inc. to partially fund the expansion. The requested grant is “open,” meaning it doesn’t require a matching component.
Health Foundation Director Heather Murphy said the Health Foundation board will consider the grant request, and said she expected a decision by August. She said she would likely work with WRMC to find additional grant sources for the expansion.
Mrs. Murphy said the Health Foundation originally funded the dialysis center when it opened inside the hospital in December 1995. Several years later, as the need for additional chairs increased, the center moved to West Park, and has been expanded once since then.
Ms. Love said WRMC recently received accreditation from the state to provide training and operations needed for peritoneal dialysis, an at-home treatment.
Posted in News, Touch5 on Wednesday, May 27, 2015 2:17 pm. Updated: 2:19 pm. | Tags:
Wilkes Regional Medical Center,
Five New Hemodialysis Chairs,
Donald Gene Jarvis Dialysis Unit,
Wrmc Vice President Tammy Love,
Wrmc President And Ceo Gene Faile,
Wrmc Chief Financial Officer Barry Wald,
Health Foundation Inc.,
Heather Murphy,
Dialysis Center Expansion Planned
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Binding site for PLA2R antibodies identified and blocking molecules synthesized |
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Medical News: The team in Manchester have found the precise region of PLA2R where antibodies attack, and have discovered molecules which can block antibodies from binding to the PLA2R protein and causing damage. Now the team know where the antibody attacks they can design treatments to remove it, or to block it from attacking the kidney with small molecules known as peptides.
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Otsuka's JINARC (tolvaptan) becomes first-ever treatment approved in Europe ... - European Pharmaceutical Review |
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The European Commission has granted marketing authorisation for Otsuka’s JINARC® (tolvaptan) for the treatment of autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) in adults who have chronic kidney disease (CKD) stage one to three at initiation of treatment with evidence of rapidly progressing disease.
In receiving this marketing authorisation, tolvaptan becomes the first pharmaceutical therapy to be licensed in Europe for the treatment of the underlying pathophysiology of ADPKD.
“Until now, healthcare professionals have focused on treating the signs and symptoms of ADPKD, with no specific treatment available to treat the disease,” said Professor Ron T. Gansevoort, University Medical Centre Groningen, the Netherlands, an expert in the field of polycystic kidney disease. “Tolvaptan represents a significant medical breakthrough in the management of ADPKD. For the first time, healthcare professionals can modify the progression of the disease and preserve kidney function, with the potential to improve patients’ quality of life and long-term outcomes.”
The marketing authorisation for tolvaptan is based on the findings of the pivotal Phase III randomised, double-blind and placebo-controlled TEMPO 3:4 trial – the largest clinical study conducted in ADPKD to date. In the three-year study, the rate of total kidney volume (TKV) increase over 3 years was significantly less for tolvaptan-treated subjects than for subjects receiving placebo: 2.80% per year vs 5.51% per year, respectively.
Furthermore, tolvaptan showed a statistically significant reduction in the risk of multiple events of worsening kidney function, kidney pain, hypertension or albuminuria .The result of the key secondary composite endpoint is primarily attributed to effects on worsening kidney function (61.4% less likely with tolvaptan than with placebo) and medically significant kidney pain (35.8% less likely in tolvaptan-treated patients).
Other than side effects associated with the mechanism of action of tolvaptan (eg thirst, polyuria, polliakuria), most side effects observed in ADPKD patients administered tolvaptan were comparable with those administered placebo. However, a risk of liver injury was identified in patients with ADPKD taking tolvaptan. Patients taking tolvaptan will have to undergo monthly blood tests for the first 18 months of treatment with tolvaptan and three-monthly thereafter to mitigate this risk.
Approval of tolvaptan welcomed by the APDKD community
“The progressive and hereditary nature of ADPKD is a physical and emotional burden on those living with the condition, as well as their families and loved ones,” said Tess Harris, President of PKD International. “This approval is welcomed by the ADPKD community as it represents a step forward for the thousands of patients and carers throughout Europe who are affected by the disease.”
ADPKD is the most common inherited kidney disease primarily characterised by the proliferation and growth of multiple fluid-filled cysts in the kidney. Cyst growth and expansion in both kidneys leads to slow deterioration of kidney function, and approximately half of patients reach end-stage renal disease (ESRD) and require renal replacement therapy (RRT) in the form of dialysis or a kidney transplant by the age of 54. ADPKD is the fourth leading cause of ESRD in adults and accounts for around 10% of patients requiring RRT.
“It is a great honour to deliver the first treatment for ADPKD in Europe,” said Tatsuo Higuchi, President and Representative Director of Otsuka. “This approval is testament to the invaluable endeavours of the researchers and patients involved in the discovery and development of tolvaptan.”
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Dialysis consumes biggest share of Taiwan's medical spending: NHIA - Focus Taiwan News Channel |
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Taipei, May 27 (CNA) Taiwan spent more than NT$600 billion (US$25.15 billion) for medical care under its national insurance program in 2014, with dialysis for patients with kidney disease accounting for the biggest share, according to information released Wednesday by the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA).
NHIA official Wang Fu-chung said the country's hospitals reported more than 615 billion points' worth of medical services in 2014, with each point receiving NHIA reimbursement of NT$0.9.
In the category of chronic kidney failure, however, each point was rewarded with only NT$0.82 in NHIA funds because the total spending by all hospitals was way in excess of the budget allocated for that type of treatment, Wang said.
The top 10 areas of spending in 2014 were chronic kidney failure (45.3 billion points), dental diseases (38.9 billion points), diabetes (24.9 billion points), hypertension ( 23.1 billion points), adult acute upper respiratory failure (14.4 billion points), slipped disks and low back pain (13.5 billion points), pneumonia (12.6 billion points), mental diseases (11.9 billion points), and intracerebral hemorrhage (11.8 billion points), in that order, according to Wang.
The list is similar to 2013, except that hypertension and respiratory failure changed places, he said.
One notable change is that spending on diabetes rose 8 percent in 2014, probably because of the increasing number of diabetics, Wang said.
Chiang Chi-gang, a physician at National Taiwan University Hospital, attributed the increase to the availability of new drugs for diabetes.
Noting that there are more than 70,000 people undergoing dialysis in Taiwan, Chiang said 45 percent of them have diabetes, which can lead to kidney failure.
Taiwan has to spend more to treat people with diabetes to prevent them from going into kidney failure, he said.
(By Lung Pei-nin and Maubo Chang)
ENDITEM /pc
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