When vaccines fall short in offering relevant immune protection in the Immunocompromised, what really works? When such suboptimal immune protection wanes a lot faster in comparison to that immunocompetent individuals, is there a better option?
Well that’s exactly what Evusheld ® – drugmaker AstraZeneca’s “New Kid on the Block” in the long-acting monoclonal antibody drug combo can potentially offer.
COVID19 vaccine inoculations are the best possible protection for most health profiles that science offers against this pandemic menace. However, as we know, COVID vaccines in their initially recommended dose schedules proved less effective in immunocompromised individuals. This was irrespective of whether poor immunity resulted from a medical condition or due to immuno-suppressive medication. Patients with advanced Chronic Kidney Disease & Kidney Transplant recipients are a prominent subgroup in this population subset of the “Vaccine Helpless”.
◾ So how did poor immunity in kidney patients impact vaccine effectiveness?
◾ Will repeated immune challenge with extra doses as part of primary vaccine series truly help all kidney patients? How tenable is it?
◾ Any better alternatives to garner adequate immune protection for our cohort without going overboard with the “immune challenge” and/or inviting side-effects of major concern?
Read on to decode the relevant science and understand your options for adequate immune protection against COVID-19.
(DISCLAIMER: The article is purely a medically feasible insight on current evidence from peer-reviewed scientific literature on COVID-19 vaccine efficiency, its shortcomings & potential relevant alternative pharmacological solutions w.r.t. patients with chronic kidney disease. The intention is to place the facts as they are with due respect to Science. It is not intended to promote any vaccine hesitancy or support anti-vaxxer views. It does not represent any political positioning either.)
Kidney Transplant saves precious lives. But it also qualifies as a major surgery involving complicated procedures. This holds true for both the donor kidney retrieval surgery and implantation of the donor kidney into the recipient (patient). Quite naturally, both surgeries may entail risks / possible complications during and after the procedures, both in the short & long term. It is these possible risks/complications of Kidney Transplant are what we aim to walk you through, today.
We will first cover the risk-profile associated with Kidney Donation followed by that for the Kidney Recipient. The article presents the list of complications as per the time points at which they usually appear after the surgery. Read on to get a comprehensive insight on the what-why-how of these complications below.
NOTE: This article only covers complications from the kidney transplant procedure. Adverse effects expected from anti-rejection & other medications that a kidney recipient is put on, will be explained in a separate article.
Following up from our article on the What-Why-When of Dialysis, presenting here a comprehensive insight on one of the commonest treatment modalities in kidney failure – Haemodialysis.
Find the table of contents below. Click on your topic of choice to get to your section-of-choice directly or scroll down to read the whole post (recommended!).
High blood pressure is almost always present at the time of diagnosing Chronic Kidney Disease. And as time passes during your CKD journey, controlling your BP becomes an essential part of your treatment plan to delay kidney failure.
But why do you get high BP in chronic kidney disease in the first place?!
For that let us first take you through all the essential facts that you must grasp about the whole concept of Blood Pressure.
Knowing this will help you master your understanding of what goes wrong with your BP regulation systems and to what extent, when CKD hits.
Dialysis is a key treatment approach in patients with advanced chronic kidney disease. As we explained in this comprehensive Dialysis Guide before, Dialysis is a method to “partially” assist unwell kidneys with their overall blood-balancing activities. It does so by removing excess fluid and clearing out metabolic waste build-up in the blood alongside unwell kidneys that are unable to do so by themselves.
But how do your medical teams estimate how much fluid you must lose for an effective Dialysis session without causing you any harm?
That and the whole clinical effort to help you achieve your Dry Weight is what today’s storytelling is about.
Vaccines are necessary to boost our immune power to effectively ward-off specific infections. They form a crucial part of medically preparing all patients of Chronic Kidney Disease for a kidney transplant surgery as well.
However, patients with Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD), those with Kidney Failure on Dialysis or Kidney Transplant recipients have a weaker immune system. Since vaccines are basically made of weakened germs or its parts, vaccinating this subset of patients requires caution and clinical supervision.
Being a Kidney Patient is difficult. It is not just the health challenges it poses on a day-to-day basis. It is also the “restrictions” that are suddenly “imposed” on us even with something as basic as “what we EAT”! Admittedly, the Renal Diet appears all the more challenging when it is a festive season!
But, focusing on what we CAN eat with kidney disease in tow, instead of what we CANNOT opens a whole new horizon of food options & possible food combinations which may go unnoticed otherwise.
Protein is a superstar of sorts in the Nutrient Circles, be it in sickness or in health. But do you completely understand all that you must, when it comes to this “celebrated nutrient” in the context of Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD)?
