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To Your Health
  
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By Kelly Garrison
Features Editor
for the week of April 10, 2008
Long Beach resident Moala Pahulu cares for three children and used to work fulltime before doctors diagnosed her with kidney failure.
The condition ultimately can be fatal without proper treatment, and even treatment drains the body of energy, she explained. But today, Pahulu says her spirits have been lifted with the help of a new at-home program now accessible to Long Beach residents.
“I looked into it, and it sounded good to me, so I decided to try it last March,” she said. “It has made a big difference. I have my appetite and my taste buds back. I’m more energetic, and I can attend my children’s school functions.”
Known as NxStage System One, the technology makes treatment easier on patients who require hemodialysis therapy for kidney failure, said Joseph Turk, Jr., NxStage Medical, Inc., Commercial Operations senior vice president. Its portable, automated device allows the kidney to function more like it would in its natural state and also allows patients to make fewer trips to professional clinics.
“We’ve simplified the device so that people can take it home,” Turk said from the company headquarters in Massachusetts. “It’s very simple and easy to clean and fits within people’s schedules so they can do therapy every day.”
NxStage treatments last two and a half to three hours per session and are conducted six days per week at home. Each session uses a 13-inch “cycler” control unit to remove toxins from the blood using dialysate fluid and a disposable cartridge. The cartridge drops into the system, which sets itself up and carries out the process.
“You open the machine, drop in the cartridge and the machine primes itself,” Turk said. “Blood gets filtered and then it’s returned to the body. It’s the same basic concept as hemodialysis, but puts it into a package that’s doable at home.”
Traditional dialysis techniques would require patients to make trips to clinics for treatment about three times a week, he said. Some patients can use Peritoneal dialysis, a treatment administered at home, but for many, it’s not an option.
Turk said that adverse reactions for the treatment were few and far between, but cautioned that the program’s effectiveness depends greatly on the responsibility of the patient and his or her assistant.
“You’re managing your own treatment, so you need to be vigilant,” he said.
Proper kidney function requires that the organ clean blood and remove excess water. Kidney failure, the permanent loss of kidney function, prevents the body from completing that function.
By the end of 2007, about 2,200 patients nationwide were using the NxStage system, Turk said. The treatment can be used on both End Stage Renal Disease and acute kidney failure patients, many of whom are waiting on kidney transplants.
Pahulu said that even though she cannot perform all of her day-to-day tasks, she has experienced tremendous improvement in her life.
“I love this program, and I think a lot of people don’t know about it,” Pahulu said. “I wish more people did, because life is much closer to normal than when you go to a clinic three times a week.”
Insurance or Medicare typically provides coverage for NxStage treatment, Turk said. For details, call (866) 697-8243 or visit www.nxstage.com.
Long Beach resident Moala Pahulu cares for three children and used to work fulltime before doctors diagnosed her with kidney failure.
The condition ultimately can be fatal without proper treatment, and even treatment drains the body of energy, she explained. But today, Pahulu says her spirits have been lifted with the help of a new at-home program now accessible to Long Beach residents.
“I looked into it, and it sounded good to me, so I decided to try it last March,” she said. “It has made a big difference. I have my appetite and my taste buds back. I’m more energetic, and I can attend my children’s school functions.”
Known as NxStage System One, the technology makes treatment easier on patients who require hemodialysis therapy for kidney failure, said Joseph Turk, Jr., NxStage Medical, Inc., Commercial Operations senior vice president. Its portable, automated device allows the kidney to function more like it would in its natural state and also allows patients to make fewer trips to professional clinics.
“We’ve simplified the device so that people can take it home,” Turk said from the company headquarters in Massachusetts. “It’s very simple and easy to clean and fits within people’s schedules so they can do therapy every day.”
NxStage treatments last two and a half to three hours per session and are conducted six days per week at home. Each session uses a 13-inch “cycler” control unit to remove toxins from the blood using dialysate fluid and a disposable cartridge. The cartridge drops into the system, which sets itself up and carries out the process.
“You open the machine, drop in the cartridge and the machine primes itself,” Turk said. “Blood gets filtered and then it’s returned to the body. It’s the same basic concept as hemodialysis, but puts it into a package that’s doable at home.”
Traditional dialysis techniques would require patients to make trips to clinics for treatment about three times a week, he said. Some patients can use Peritoneal dialysis, a treatment administered at home, but for many, it’s not an option.
Turk said that adverse reactions for the treatment were few and far between, but cautioned that the program’s effectiveness depends greatly on the responsibility of the patient and his or her assistant.
“You’re managing your own treatment, so you need to be vigilant,” he said.
Proper kidney function requires that the organ clean blood and remove excess water. Kidney failure, the permanent loss of kidney function, prevents the body from completing that function.
By the end of 2007, about 2,200 patients nationwide were using the NxStage system, Turk said. The treatment can be used on both End Stage Renal Disease and acute kidney failure patients, many of whom are waiting on kidney transplants.
Pahulu said that even though she cannot perform all of her day-to-day tasks, she has experienced tremendous improvement in her life.
“I love this program, and I think a lot of people don’t know about it,” Pahulu said. “I wish more people did, because life is much closer to normal than when you go to a clinic three times a week.”
Insurance or Medicare typically provides coverage for NxStage treatment, Turk said. For details, call (866) 697-8243 or visit www.nxstage.com.
