AIM: The aim of this study was to describe patients' experiences of suffering from end-stage renal disease (ESRD). RATIONALE: The rationale was to investigate how persons find meaning or make sense of their situation and how they experience suffering. The theoretical basis for the study was to view suffering at three levels. The first level was related to sickness and treatment. The second level w

Aim. To compare the effects of preoperative treatment with recombinant human erythropoietin (EPO) and iron with iron only on hemoglobin levels (Hb) in anemic women prior to hysterectomy. Methods. The study was an open-labelled randomized parallel study. Fifteen women scheduled for hysterectomy due to uterine myoma were given oral iron and EPO (NeoRecormon®) 4 weeks prior to surgery (group I) and 1

Chronic cobalt exposure is characterized by severe cardiac insufficiency. Since the mechanisms of cobalt toxicity are not yet clear, we analysed the effects of chronic cobalt exposure on antioxidant enzyme activities and myocardial mitochondrial ATP production rate in a rat model. One group of rats was fed a conventional diet and another a cobalt supplemented diet for 24 weeks. The manganese-super

Muscle function declines with age and progressive uraemia. We examined whether elderly predialysis patients could improve thigh muscle function, walking capacity, and functional mobility to the same extent as elderly healthy subjects when participating in 12 weeks of individual muscle endurance exercises for the thigh as well as in a low-intensive group programme. The uraemic exercise and comparis

The effects of chronic renal failure on cardiac performance and myocardial morphology were studied in rats: 17 with 5/6 nephrectomy (CRF rats) and 12 with sham operation (controls). Cardiac function was assessed 8 weeks postoperatively, using the Langendorff technique for an isolated working heart model. After the hemodynamic study the hearts were fixed for electron and light microscopy. In the CR

Background. Anaemia in haemodialysis patients can be effectively treated with erythropoietin. We investigated whether subcutaneous (SC) epoetin β administered once weekly was as effective as the same weekly dosage given in two to three divided doses. Methods. One hundred and fifty-eight patients (delivered Kt/V >1.0, where K=dialyser-renal urea clearance, t=dialysis time and V=filtration volume, o

The aims of this study were first, to evaluate the effects of a patient-education programme for a group of 28 uraemic patients (the Experimental (EG) group) with regard to their knowledge and perceived amount of information and to relate these effects to their sense of coherence and secondly, to study the patients' perception of their dialysis treatment. The results were compared with a comparison

This study evaluated the effects of a predialysis patient education programme on functioning and well-being in 28 uraemic patients. The programme consisted of four group sessions with the following themes: renal disease and dietary restriction, active renal replacement therapy, physical exercise, and the impact of chronic renal failure on economy, family and social life. Three to 9 months after ha

Objectives: To evaluate the feasibility in a pilot study of in vitro endothelialisation of PTFE grafts used as interposition arteriovenous fistulas in uraemic patients. Methods: Autologous saphenous vein endothelial cells were harvested and cultured on PTFE grafts in seven patients undergoing maintenance haemodialysis. The patients had several previous failures of vascular access sites. The patien

In this study perceived well-being and functioning in 28 uraemic patients (14 women and 14 men, mean age 54 years) were measured in the predialysis stage during conservative renal therapy and 3-9 months after having started maintenance dialysis treatment. The patients had participated in a patient education programme in the predialysis stage. Disease-specific symptoms, perceived health (Wealth Ind

This study describes and analyses how 38 predialytic uremic patients perceived their sense of well-being, functional ability, level of anxiety and sense of coherence. The patients in this study reported decreased sense of well-being, considerable functional disabilities, and a high level of anxiety when compared to a healthy reference group. These observations were independent of laboratory data w

Objectives: The effects of chronic cobalt exposure were studied in an isolated working model in a modified Langendorff preparation. Methods: Thirty-six rats were given either a conventional (control group) or a cobalt supplemented diet (cobalt group; 40 mg CoSO4 x 7 H2O/kg body weight/day). Sixteen of the animals were sacrificed and their hearts were excised after 16 weeks and the remaining 20 aft

Objective: To establish dose requirements (target hemoglobin > 100 g/L) and safety of subcutaneously administered epoetin beta. Design: Open multicenter study. Patients: Forty-five anemic patients (21 female, 24 male; mean age 55 years; range 20-79 years) who had been on continuous peritoneal dialysis for 1-157 months (mean 24 months). Thirty patients required blood transfusions during the year pr

We studied 37 hemodialysis patients during hemodialysis in order to assess the effects of dialysis on endogenous plasma coagulation inhibitors (antithrombin III, protein C, free and total protein S). The patients were examined prior to erythropoietin (EPO) treatment, upon reaching target hemoglobin (Hb) and after 3 months at steady state Hb levels. The levels of protein C increased significantly d

To determine the effect of erythropoietin (EPO) on patency the haemodynamics and morphology in haemodialysis fistula/graft were prospectively assessed using ultrasonographic two-dimensional imaging and colour flow Doppler together with pulsed Doppler, prior to and during partial correction of anaemia with EPO. Nineteen radiocephalic fistula and 11 loop grafts in 30 patients on routine maintenance

We examined 58 patients (38 men, 20 women; mean age: 45 ± 12 years, body mass index: 24 ± 4 kg/m2) with a glomerular filtration rate (GFR) ranging from 3 to 32 ml/min, in order to determine the effects of a progressive decline in renal function on total hemoglobin (THb) and exercise capacity. The THb ranged from 185 to 759 g and the hemoglobin concentration ranged from 66 to 151 g/l. Maximal exerc

In this cross-sectional study, we examined biopsies from the vastus lateralis muscle of 13 predialytic uremic men (mean age 46 ± 8 years). Their average glomerular filtration rate was 14 ± 7 ml/min x 1.73 m2 and their maximal exercise capacity, measured by standardized exercise test on a bicycle ergometer, was 184 ± 45 W (94% of the expected norm). The proportion of type I fibers (type I%) in the