Anemia with kidney failure?

Specialties Urology

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Can anyone tell me about anemia that is caused by kidney failure? I'm not familiar with this sort of thing and if there are some links or information out there I would appreciate it!

Specializes in Hemodialysis, Home Health.

phn92...

the kidneys are responsible for the production of epoeitin.. (epogen, procrit) which stimulates the bone barrow to produce red blood cells. When the kidneys no longer function,it becomes difficult to produce the necessary RBCs.

If you have patients on dialysis, there are many other reasons for blood loss which contribute to anemia.

Allow me to recommend an excellent site where you can learn all you want about nephrology and/or dialysis realted issues:

http://www.hdcn.com and http://www.iKidney.com

Check them out ! :)

Thank you for the info! This question was for my dad. He has severe COPD, CHF, and diabetes which is controlled. Last fall he had sepsis and was on a vent for about a month. I'm sure there was some kidney failure during that time. The doctor had him on Aranesp for a while, his hgb was 13 so they stopped it. He was recently hospitalized again for pneumonia and his hgb was 8.7. They gave him 2 units of blood which brought it up over 11. I just wanted to understand the situation, I may asked the Dr if he needs to go back on the Aranesp again. Thanks again!

Your dad needs to see a nephrologist to see if he has Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), which would explain the anemia and he probably can be put on Epogen or Aranesp to bring up his Hgb and make him feel better, etc.... Also, the nephrologist can keep a watch on his kidney function and hopefully keep him off of dialysis.

Anemia is a diseases i.e we can sat that it is infection which ocur anywhere in the body skin.Gernally animea occur from decrasing blood cells.it is virus of skin ,it spread from person to person.this anemia direct attcak on kidney

and liver.Leucovorin medication is mosly use for this because this drugs have capability of increasing the hemoglobin in your body.this have more information about side effects ,warnnings, and this drugs help in diebitic patients.

Iron screen (haematenics) must also be checked in chronic renal disease. Sometimes iron infusion such as Venofer can halt anaemia.

Your dad needs to see a nephrologist to see if he has Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), which would explain the anemia and he probably can be put on Epogen or Aranesp to bring up his Hgb and make him feel better, etc.... Also, the nephrologist can keep a watch on his kidney function and hopefully keep him off of dialysis.

Maybe your Dad is iron deplete?

Specializes in Missionary, ICU, Corrections, military.

First of all I want to thank any of you who respond to this posting as it will help me with an assignment I have in relation to the nursing program I am in. I’m a second semester nursing student and am in the process of gathering information and personal experiences in relation to a topic that I have found interesting. I was reviewing a couple American Journal of Nursing articles (September 2005 vol. 105 number 9 and October 2005 vol. 105 number 10) and found discussions on managing Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) with emphasis on pharmacology and self-management.

The September 2005 issue (pgs.60-72) talks about the pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, and pharmacotherapy in patients with this disease. I found it quite interesting how, in patients with CKD there are vast alterations in the metabolism of numerous drugs and hormones which in turn alter other bodily functions to the point where new conditions arise and have to be addressed. An example of this was illustrated in the article with “acetaminophen (Tylenol and others)” (AJN, Sept 05, vol. 105, number 9, pg 62). Hepatotoxicity is a valid issue when treating patients with CKD when administering Tylenol to these patients, since Tylenol is such a widely used drug.

The October 2005 issue (pgs. 40-49) discusses issues around CKD and the patient’s compliance or adherence to a therapy regimen. The article goes into how nurses can approach a patient and how we can change a patient’s mode of thought about his or her diagnosis and how this can positively influence the progression of the disease. One interesting point which was made in the article is the way we as health care providers should see how a person diagnosed with this disease perceives or understands their new diagnosis. In the early stage of a chronic disease, patients tend to “make sense in concrete terms of the abstract concept of the diagnosis, usually by examining symptoms.” (AJN, OCT 05, vol.105, number 10, pg 43). This is to say that the patient relates their disease with the symptoms they are having. The article illustrates this in patients with hypertension and the symptoms they are experiencing. The patient falsely identifies his or her disease in relation to external cues rather than physiological reasons. Further into the article it gives the nurse some useful tools to help the patient identify and attain a better understanding of their disease process and ways in which to help them maintain adherence to a given drug regimen.

If any of you have any comments on this please respond. Once again I have no experience, but I do have an interest in the renal system and am looking into specializing in this area once out of nursing school. I’m wondering if any of you have any specific ways of going about helping your patients with adherence and getting them to make sense of their chronic illness. If any of you have any experiences other than CKD please respond. Once again thanks for you time.

Victor

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