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Working is very important to many people who have kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease (ESRD). It can help them to have a feeling of value to their families, to society and to themselves. As an employer, you probably have many questions about how hiring or continuing to employ...

Insurance Options:   Medicare  helps Americans and legal residents of all ages who have worked and paid taxes into the system, and need dialysis or a kidney transplant. More than 90 percent of Americans with kidney failure, what Medicare calls End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD), have...

Myth: The only option for receiving dialysis treatment is to travel to a center at least three times per week for hours at a time. Fact: Dialysis can be done in many ways: You can do dialysis in a hospital or an outpatient dialysis clinic or in your own home. Hemodialysis at a dialysis center is...

What is the buttonhole technique? The buttonhole technique is a way to "cannulate," which means "to insert dialysis needles." Instead of sharp, pointed needles, dull needles are placed into the exact same holes on your fistula every time you have dialysis.  Inserting the needles in the same...

By Jennifer S. Scherer, M.D.   A few years ago, I left my nephrology private practice because I was driven to do more for my patients. Throughout my training and career in nephrology, I had been intensely aware of how kidney patients – even those doing well – often have poor quality of...

Though dialysis is the preferred choice for some people, many other people with kidney failure choose to have a kidney transplant. Transplantation has many advantages, such as a lifestyle free from dialysis and fewer fluid and dietary restrictions. Kidney transplants, when successful, usually...

Pathogenesis Refractory gout is considered an uncommon problem, but it remains a persistent challenge, and patients with this condition can have functional impairment and sharply reduced quality of life.1   Gout may result from chronic hyperuricemia, defined as a serum urate level >7.0 mg/...

Pathophysiology Nephropathic cystinosis is an autosomal recessive metabolic disorder. It is a rare disease with a lifelong impact on the patient. The yearly incidence of nephropathic cystinosis is ~1:150,000 to 200,000 live births and its prevalence is ~1.6 per million population.1 However the...