Others – Specialties
Blood Modifiers
Blood modifiers are a class of drugs that work to stimulate bone marrow to produce more cells and they affect certain diseases such as cancer and chronic kidney failure.
Chronic Kidney Disease
Your kidneys are vital organs. This means that you cannot survive without them. When your kidneys don’t work the way they should, they allow waste and water to flow back into your blood stream instead of sending them out through your urine. This causes waste and water to build up in your body.
Treatment
Dialysis
Dialysis is a treatment for kidney failure. There are two types of dialysis: hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Hemodialysis uses a machine to clean your blood. This type of dialysis can be done at a dialysis center or in a clean room in your home. Hemodialysis that is done in a dialysis center is called in-center hemodialysis, and it is the most common treatment for kidney failure. Peritoneal dialysis uses the lining of your abdomen (belly area), called your peritoneum, as a filter to clean your blood. This type of dialysis can be done anywhere that is clean and dry.
Kidney transplant
A kidney transplant is a surgery to give you a healthy kidney from someone else’s body. Your new kidney can come from someone who is alive or someone who has just died. A kidney that comes from someone who has just died is called a deceased donor kidney. A living donor kidney is one that comes from someone who is still alive. There is a very long waiting list for deceased donor kidneys in the U.S., and there are not enough deceased donor kidneys for everyone to get one. If you have a living kidney donor who wants to give you a healthy kidney, you may be able to have your kidney transplant sooner.
Medical management
Some people decide that they do not want to have dialysis or a kidney transplant. If you do not want to receive treatment for your kidney failure, you might consider medical management. Medical management is a way to treat the symptoms of kidney failure to help you live comfortable until your body can no longer function. It is important to understand that medical management is not a treatment for kidney failure and it will not keep you alive.
Viral Hepatitis
Hepatitis means inflammation of the liver. The liver is a vital organ that processes nutrients, filters the blood, and fights infections. When the liver is inflamed or damaged, its function can be affected. Heavy alcohol use, toxins, some medications, and certain medical conditions can cause hepatitis. However, hepatitis is often caused by a virus. In the United States, the most common types of viral hepatitis are hepatitis A, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C.
Hepatitis A
- Effective vaccine available:
- Outbreaks still occur in the United States; currently there are outbreaks among people who use drugs, people experiencing homelessness, and men who have sex with men
- Recent foodborne outbreaks in US traced to imported food
- Common in many countries, especially those without modern sanitation
- Hepatitis A can last from a few weeks to several months.
- Supportive treatment for symptoms
Hepatitis B
- Effective vaccine available
- Hepatitis B is a leading cause of liver cancer
- Hepatitis B can range from a mild illness, lasting a few weeks, to a serious, life-long (chronic) condition. More than 90% of unimmunized infants who get infected develop a chronic infection, but 6%–10% of older children and adults who get infected develop chronic hepatitis B.
- Acute: No medication available; best addressed through supportive care Chronic: Regular monitoring for signs of liver disease progression; some patients are treated with antiviral drugs
Hepatitis C
- About 50% of people with hepatitis C do not know they are infected
- 3 in 4 people with hepatitis C were born from 1945-1965
- Hepatitis C is a leading cause of liver transplants and liver cancer
- Hepatitis C can range from a mild illness, lasting a few weeks, to a serious, life-long (chronic) infection. Most people who get infected with the hepatitis C virus develop chronic hepatitis C.
- Acute: There is not a recommended treatment for acute hepatitis C. People should be considered for treatment if their infection becomes chronic. Chronic: There are several medications available to treat chronic hepatitis C. Current treatments usually involve 8-12 weeks of oral therapy (pills) and cure over 90% of people with few side effects
