Mortality And Kidney Disease
Raising albumin safely is a big topic in the kidney disease community right now. Albumin levels are especially important to watch out for as a patient on dialysis. Adequate levels can keep a patient surviving for a much longer time. Low levels of albumin in the blood are in indicator to doctors that there are more underlying health issues. Albumin is a protein that comes from animals and plants. Meats, dairy products, and eggs all contain albumin, as well as nuts, beans and seeds. If you’re trying to lower your albumin levels it is recommended that your lower your salt intake for your diet. What albumin does to the body is it gives it the protein required to facilitate growth and fix tissues. Thus, it is important to watch your albumin levels.
When it comes to the treatment of kidney disease, albumin can assist with flushing out fluids from dialysis. With proper albumin in your system, the body can more easily move fluid from swollen tissues into the blood. Then, the dialyzer gets rid of this fluid. Not having proper nutrition habits can cause your albumin levels to drop to a dangerous level for a patient with CKD. This can happen as a direct result of being on dialysis, which can cause you to not want to eat, or be unable to eat as much as you should. Along with making sure patients receive proper nutrition, another importing thing to do is prevent infection by keeping the body and surrounding areas clean while on dialysis.
Infection is not so good for albumin levels. Overall, the amount of fluid in the body directly correlates with proper treatment. This fluid level can be controlled with the help of a class of drug called a diuretic. The team of healthcare workers working on a patient on dialysis should also constantly monitor the patient’s liver. In certain cases, albumin can be given through a needle to a patient. A doctor should know whether or not this is the best course of action.
