COOLING OF DIALYSIS PROTECTS AGAINST BRAIN DAMAGE
While dialysis can
cause blood pressure changes that damage the brain, cooling dialysis fluids can
protect against such effects. The findings come from a study appearing in an
upcoming issue of theJournal
of the American Society of Nephrology (JASN).
The cooling intervention can be delivered
without additional cost and is simple to perform
While dialysis is an
essential treatment for many patients with kidney disease, it can cause damage
to multiple organs, including the brain and heart, due to the sudden removal of
bodily fluids.
To characterize
dialysis-induced brain injury and to see whether cooled dialysis fluids (called
dialysate) might help reduce such injury, Christopher McIntyre, DM, and his
colleagues randomized 73 new dialysis patients to dialyze with body temperature
dialysate or dialysate cooled to 0.5◦C below body temperature for 1 year. (Dr.
McIntyre was at the University of Nottingham in the UK while conducting this
work but is now at the University of Western Ontario and the London Health
Sciences Centre, in Canada.)
The study demonstrated
that dialysis drives progressive white matter brain injury due to blood
pressure instability; however, patients who dialyzed at 0.5◦C below body
temperature were completely protected against such white matter changes.
"This study demonstrates
that paying attention to improving the tolerability of dialysis treatment -- in
this case by the simple and safe intervention of reducing the temperature of
dialysate -- does not just make patients feel better, but also can completely
protect the brain from progressive damage," said Dr. McIntyre.
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