Now, keep up to date
with daily feeds of newly posted stories
about America's Seniors...click on the box
to the left
Travel
may be hazardous to Dialysis Patients
Newswise — If you’re sick, traveling to a
foreign land may boost your spirits, but
jeopardize your health, according to a paper
being presented at the American Society of
Nephrology’s 42nd Annual Meeting and
Scientific Exposition in San Diego, CA.
The findings indicate that dialysis patients
who travel on vacation risk infections,
anemia, and other complications that can
compromise their dialysis treatments.
In a study conceived and led by nurses,
Claire Edwards, RGN; Kathleen Lynch, RGN;
Neill Duncan, MRCP (West London Renal and
Transplant Centre, Imperial College Kidney
and Transplant Institute, United Kingdom);
and their colleagues collected health
information on patients who traveled on
vacation at some point between April 2008 to
March 2009.
Their analysis included 69 patients of
diverse ethnic background who traveled to
Europe, the Middle East, India, the United
States, Africa, the Pacific Rim, and South
Asia.
One patient died during travel and two
damaged or lost their fistulas or grafts
(surgically created sites that provide
dialysis tubes access to the blood). Seven
patients required blood transfusions soon
after their return, and several acquired
blood stream infections.
The investigators concluded that travel
among dialysis patients is associated with
significantly increased infection rates,
loss of vascular access, and anemia.
“Many patients wish to travel freely around
the world. This study empowers patients with
information in order for them to make
choices about their lifestyle,” said
Edwards.
The study is limited by the fact that the
precise details of treatment received by
patients, including treatment duration,
blood loss, infection, antibiotic starts,
etc while patients were on vacation was not
always clear. There is no data for
non-dialysis travelers, but the risks are
expected to be significantly lower.
The authors report no financial disclosures.
Study co-authors include Kathleen Lynch, RGN,
Seema Singh, MSc, Damien Ashby, MRCP, David
Taube, FRCP, Thomas Cairns, FRCP, Adam
McLean, FRCP, DPhil, and Megan Griffith,
FRCP, PhD (West London Renal and Transplant
Centre, Imperial College Kidney and
Transplant Institute, United Kingdom).
... ..
...
...