About Hannah Bracamonte

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So far Hannah Bracamonte has created 560 blog entries.

Bladder Health and Chronic Kidney Disease

2024-03-28T20:59:52-04:00November 10th, 2018|Categories: Early Intervention, eNews, Lifestyle, News & Events, Staying Healthy, Treatment|

November is Bladder Health Month. The bladder is part of the urinary system, which also includes the kidneys. Taking care of the bladder is important for individuals with kidney disease as infections in the bladder can spread to the kidneys, which can cause permanent damage to the kidneys. Additionally, diabetes, which is one of the leading causes of chronic kidney disease, can contribute towards bladder problems. The National Institute of Health has some resources on how the bladder changes as we age and ways to keep your bladder healthy. Check out the resources below: Bladder Health for Older Adults – Discusses [...]

Everything You Need to Know About Beating the Holiday Blues and Post-Holiday Let Down

2024-03-28T20:59:53-04:00November 1st, 2018|Categories: Blog, Mental Health, News & Events, Quality of Life, Stress Management|

By Steve Wilson (download PDF) Emotionally Loaded Months You probably can guess why October, November and December are called the “emotionally loaded” quarter of the year. The post-holiday period has emotional perils, too, but probably not what you think they are. What can you do to have an easier time of it all? To do a really good job of managing holiday stresses, you will need some sense of control, some sense of predictability, some optimism, and some solid practical strategies. The information in this article will help you be smarter about holiday stress, so you can beat it before it beats [...]

Laugh Will and Testament: Using Humor to Contemplate Mortality and Enjoy Life Recording and Slides

2024-03-28T20:59:54-04:00October 28th, 2018|Categories: eNews, Humor and Laughter, News & Events, Quality of Life, Webinar|

If you were unable to attend our last education seminar, the recording is now available! Please see the video and links below for details. We want to keep getting better. Please help us by sharing your comments and suggestions here: Webinar Review Download the handouts. Download the slides. Tears study article mentioned during the presentation. View the Recording:

Bad News for Individuals with Kidney Disease That Use Marijuana

2024-03-28T20:59:55-04:00October 27th, 2018|Categories: eNews, News & Events, Physical Health, Quality of Life, Stress Management, Treatment|

Individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) that use marijuana may lose function of their kidneys more rapidly than non-users, as found in one study. Researchers compared the mean annual rate of decline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) among the two groups of participants. The eGFR was 3.22 mL/min/1.73 m2 among marijuana users and 1.42 mL/min/1.73 m2 among non-users. Glomerular filtration rate (GFR) measures kidney function effectiveness by documenting how well the kidneys are filtering the blood. Scientists did not observe a decline in kidney function among individuals that use marijuana and do not have CKD. Read the full article.

RSVP for Next Month’s Webinar – Medication Use and the Role of the Pharmacist

2024-03-28T20:59:56-04:00October 23rd, 2018|Categories: eNews, Medication, News & Events, Treatment, Webinar|

Presented by: Wendy St. Peter, PharmD, FCCP, FASN, FNKF, Professor at the College of Pharmacy, University of Minnesota People with chronic kidney disease (CKD) often times… have other medical conditions require many medicines have several doctors that prescribe medicines go to more than one pharmacy to get medicines It can be hard for patients, doctors and other healthcare professionals to keep track of all the medicines their patients with CKD take. The issues above can lead to medication therapy problems (MTPs). MTPs can…. reduce the good effects of medicines lead to safety issues (e.g., bad reaction to a medicine) result in non-adherence [...]

Free Tools for Decreasing Healthcare-Based Infections

2024-06-07T12:32:30-04:00October 20th, 2018|Categories: eNews, News & Events, What Is Kidney Disease|

Dialysis patients have an increased risk for getting infections. A set of free, downloadable PDFs are available for medical professionals to use to help reduce healthcare-based infections. The tool library is organized by different situations and settings one encounters in the healthcare setting. Each PDF is populated with a checklist of yes/no questions and observation boxes to ensure proper procedures are followed and monitored in each situation. The tools are designed to serve as a quick reference for infection prevention deficiencies and allow corrective action to promptly be taken to better protect patients. The tools were developed by the Association for [...]

Positive Psychology Exercises May Help Dialysis Patients Combat Depression

2024-03-28T20:59:59-04:00October 13th, 2018|Categories: eNews, Mental Health, Treatment|

Dialysis patients that participated in technology-based positive psychology exercises reported “significantly” lower symptoms of depression and saw improvements in “quality of life, emotional well-being, physical vigor and social interactions,” as published by one study. The exercises focused on building on the patient’s “personal strengths, cultivating gratitude and using positive reappraisal to reinterpret events.” The findings may provide alternatives for dialysis patients who are looking for ways to manage their depression. Depression is the most common psychiatric illness among individuals with kidney failure, with occurrence ranging from 22.8 to 39.3 percent as reported by a group of researchers. Patients in the study [...]

Taking Statins Before and After Kidney Failure May Lead to Better Outcomes for Dialysis Patients

2024-03-28T21:00:00-04:00October 8th, 2018|Categories: eNews, Medication, News & Events, Treatment|

Individuals with chronic kidney disease (CKD) that took statins at least six months before and after kidney failure had a 28 percent lower risk of death than patients who stopped taking statins after kidney failure, as found in one study. In addition, these individuals had an 18 percent lower risk of cardiovascular-related death when compared to the statin discontinuers. The better cardiovascular outcomes were not observed in studies where individuals with CKD started taking statins after kidney failure, pointing to the importance of early CKD detection and taking statins before and after kidney failure. Statins are drugs taken to lower the [...]

Over $2 Million to be Awarded to Innovative Dialysis Solutions

2024-03-28T21:00:01-04:00October 3rd, 2018|Categories: eNews, News & Events, Treatment|

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) are awarding monetary prizes to people that come up with innovative solutions to prevent, diagnose, and treat kidney failure. Anyone is welcome to enter the competition, which is called Kidney Innovation Accelerator (KidneyX), and it is broken up into two phases. The hope is that the contest will generate and expedite new technologies, concepts, or expertise that have not been introduced in the realm of chronic kidney disease. Contest Deadlines and Prize Details Submissions will be accepted from October 2018 until February 2019 for phase [...]

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