Phosphate control gets coverage in the Washington Post Cutting Phosphate May Protect Kidney Patients From Heart Trouble:
"One of the kidney's functions is to help maintain a constant balance of phosphate in the bloodstream," senior author Dr. Keith A. Hruska, director of the Division of Pediatric Nephrology and professor of pediatrics, medicine and of cell biology and physiology, said in a prepared statement.
"When kidney failure occurs, an excess of serum phosphate develops. It turns out that high phosphate serves as a signal that stimulates cells within blood vessel walls to become bone-forming cells and to deposit calcium crystals. That produces vascular stiffness that is a cause of cardiovascular mortality," Hruska explained.
Great to see a big national newspaper covering a detail of life with kidney failure aka Stage 5 CKD. However, throughout the rest of the article CKD is used where Stage 5 CKD or CKD5 is meant:
Based on the evidence from this and other studies, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently decided to extend the label of phosphate-binding drugs on the market. These drugs -- calcium acetate (PhosLo), sevelamer (Renagel) and lanthanum carbonate (Fosrenol) -- will now be labeled to indicate they are approved for treatment of high serum phosphate levels in CKD patients.
About 19 million Americans have chronic kidney disease.
That isn't exactly right but I'm conflicted because in many ways it is better than saying ESRD which is the usual term. It would have be exactly right if the Post would have just said Stage 5 CKD and then said about 350,000 Americans have Stage 5 CKD.
Those 19 million Americans with early stages of CKD, stages 1 through 4, do not generally need to take binders. And actually the National Kidney Foundation says "26 million Americans have CKD and another 20 million more are at increased risk".
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