Since October, 26 dialysis patients have been spending several nights a week in hospital and feeling better for it.
“My energy was dramatically different,” patient Caitlin Tighe explains. “I was able to all of a sudden start participating in yoga classes and a fitness routine.”
The overnight program offers hemodialysis over 8 hours, twice as long as the 4-hour daytime dialysis treatments, which is considered the current standard of care.
“Traditionally with a typical dialysis we have difficulties with removing excess fluid,” says Dr. Jennifer MacCrae, Medical Director of Hemodialysis for the Southern Alberta Renal Program. “What happens, is that results in changes to the heart, the heart gets dilated and the muscle gets thicker and these things are associated with bad cardiovascular outcomes.”
Kidney patients face a 50% mortality rate after 5 years on dialysis with cardiac failure being the leading cause of death.
Slower-paced hemodialysis has been associated with fewer side effects and can lead to improvements in blood pressure. Dr. MacCrae hopes it can also help dialysis patients stay healthy and strong as they wait for a kidney transplant.
“By being able to reduce some of the symptoms they’re experiencing, ultimately we hope to see it transplate to improved cardiovascular outcomes down the road.”
In Alberta, kidney patients face a 5 – 8 year wait for a transplant.
According to Alberta Health Services, the overnight dialysis program also requires fewer staffing resources. During a daytime four-hour dialysis session, one nurse can oversee three patients, at night one nurse can safely care for five.
In southern Alberta there are about 725 patients on hemodialysis. Officials plan to expand the overnight dialysis program to other centres both within Calgary and in surrounding areas.
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