Social Support Plays Key Role In Dialysis Patients' Health

Dialysis patients with little social support from friends and family are more likely to ignore doctors' orders, experience a poorer quality of life, and die prematurely, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology (CJASN).

The results suggest strong social networks are important for maintaining dialysis patients' health. Kidney disease patients on dialysis often feel stressed because they must take time away from family and friends to undergo treatments.

Dialysis - Hemodialysis, Peritoneal Dialysis and Role of Diet and Drugs
Dialysis is an artificial process for removing excess water and waste from the blood. Hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis are the types of dialysis.

In many cases, they may feel guilty about being ill and be reluctant to ask for support. Aurélie Untas (Université de Bordeaux, in Bordeaux, France), Christian Combe, MD, PhD (Université de Bordeaux and the Centre Hospitalier Universitaire de Bordeaux), and colleagues investigated the influence of social support on patient survival, adherence to medical recommendations, and quality of life.

They analyzed data on 32,332 dialysis patients enrolled in the Dialysis Outcomes and Practice Patterns Study (DOPPS) conducted between 1996 and 2008. (DOPPS is a prospective study of adult dialysis patients randomly selected from 930 dialysis facilities in 12 countries.)

Patients answered questions related to social activities, whether they felt isolated, considered themselves burdens, and what kinds of support they received from family and dialysis staff.

Quiz on Kidney
The kidneys are two bean-shaped organs, each about the size of a fist, and are located just below the rib cage, one on each side of your spine.

Healthy kidneys filter about half a cup of blood every minute, removing wastes and extra water to make urine. The urine flows from the kidneys to the bladder through two thin tubes of muscle called ureters, one on each side of your bladder. The bladder stores urine. The kidneys, ureters, and bladder are partof the urinary tract.

kidneys remove wastes and extra fluid from your body. Kidneys also remove acid that is produced by the cells of your body and maintain a healthy balance of water, salts, and minerals-such as sodium, calcium, phosphorus and potassium-in your blood ().

Without this balance, nerves, muscles, and other tissues in the body may not work normally.

Kidneys also make hormones that help

Control your blood pressure
Make red blood cells
Keep your bones strong and healthy

Source-Eurekalert

Anatomy of Urinary System
Animation & slides showing anatomy of urinary system and the role of kidneys in getting rid of the waste products and excess fluid from our body to keep us healthy.