Active clinical trials for "Kidney Diseases"

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of 6 months of daily beta-hydroxy beta-methylbutyrate (HMB) supplementation on the physical function and the health of bones, arteries and heart in hemodialysis patients.

The purpose of this study is to increase understanding about living kidney donation (LKD) among Hispanic/Latino patients and public by increasing knowledge and positive attitudes about LKD. Improving Hispanics' understanding about LKD will ensure that Hispanic patients and public are fully informed of the treatment options for End Stage Kidney Disease.

The objective of this study is to evaluate kidney transplant candidates' comprehension about increased risk donor kidneys necessary for informed consent. We have developed a web-based tool that educates and assesses candidates' comprehension (Inform Me), as a supplement to current informed consent processes. We will then compare the effectiveness of the current informed consent processes supplemented by Inform Me, with the current consent processes alone for kidney transplant.

This study will assess the influence of hepatic impairment on the pharmacokinetics, safety and tolerability of a single dose of MDV3100 in male subjects. The study will consist of two treatment arms. Arm A will assess the influence of mild hepatic impairment, and Arm B will assess the influence of moderate hepatic impairment. Data obtained from subjects with hepatic impairment will be compared to data from Body Mass Index (BMI) and age-matched subjects with normal hepatic function.

The purpose of the study is to learn more about how treatment with vitamin D can affect iron metabolism and blood levels of two hormones that control iron levels, hepcidin and hemojuvelin in people with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Iron is an essential mineral which is a major component of proteins that carry oxygen in the blood. Problems with iron metabolism can lead to low blood levels (anemia), which can commonly happen in people with CKD. New research over the last decade has uncovered a new hormone called 'hepcidin', which is made in the liver and released into the blood. Hepcidin controls how much iron is in the blood by preventing the absorption of iron from food. Blood levels of hepcidin C are found to be high in people with CKD, and a recent small study in people with normal kidney function showed that treatment with vitamin D decreased hepcidin levels. Another protein, known as 'hemojuvelin', has been recently discovered and is also thought to control the amount of iron in the blood. The relationship between vitamin D and hemojuvelin has never been studied before. In this study, investigators would like to examine the effects of vitamin D on iron metabolism and blood levels of hepcidin C and hemojuvelin in individuals with CKD.

Anemia is a common complication of chronic kidney disease (CKD). In anemia of chronic kidney disease, patients suffer from low hemoglobin levels, which contribute to feelings of malaise and fatigue. The current accepted practice is often to administer erythropoietin-stimulating agents (ESAs), which act like the body's natural hormones to stimulate the production of red blood cells from bone marrow. Although ESAs are widely used in CKD, recent evidence suggests that they are not as safe as previously thought. In this study, we seek to test a decision aid to be used when a patient visits his or her nephrologist at Vanderbilt. The objective of the decision aid is to reduce patient confusion, improve their satisfaction with their care, improve their knowledge of kidney disease, and ultimately bring more clarity to patients about a controversial but ubiquitous drug. The decision aid will be about 1 page long and will include questions and information that might help the patient be more active and informed regarding the choice of a course of ESA therapy. We will ask patients to answer questions before and after their clinic visits regarding their satisfaction and confidence in their treatment and their knowledge of kidney disease; we will ask some of the same questions 3 months after the clinic visit. We will compare patients who are counseled using the decision aid to patients who are not. We anticipate total experiment running time to be approximately 5 months to recruit and follow up on all patients.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a nurse-led case management programme on home exercise training for haemodialysis patients. We hypothesised that: a. There is no significant difference in physical functioning between participants receiving the nurse-led home exercise training programme and those receiving the comparison care. b. There is no difference in depression between participants receiving the nurse-led home exercise training programme and those receiving the comparison care. c. There is no difference in quality of life and health perception between participants receiving the nurse-led home exercise training programme and those receiving the comparison care. d. There is no difference in physical activity levels between participants receiving the nurse-led home exercise training programme and those receiving the comparison care. e. There is no difference in perceived benefits and barriers of exercise between participants receiving the nurse-led home exercise training programme and those receiving the comparison care. The study was a randomized controlled trial conducted in two haemodialysis units of two tertiary hospitals in Nanjing, China. Participants were randomly assigned to either study group or comparison group. Participants in both groups received the in-center exercise training (20 minutes) before haemodialysis sessions weekly for 6 weeks and were instructed to perform exercise at home. The in-center training was focused on flexibility and strengthening exercise. Patients were encouraged to have cardiovascular exercises at home which will improve their cardiovascular conditions and endurance. The list of cardiovascular exercise included brisk walking, bicycling, jogging. Participants in the study group were instructed to start walking or brisk walking at low duration and gradually progress to a maximum of 30 minutes daily per week. To facilitate exercise progression, the nurse case managers discussed exercise benefits, explored exercise barriers and developed mutual goals with patients. The nurse motivated them and checked the exercise behaviors to ensure adherence to the recommended exercise regime. The nurse case managers interviewed the study group patients weekly for six weeks and biweekly for another six weeks. Participants in the comparison group only participated in the in-center exercise training. The comparison group patients received usual care from the nurse without the interviews and mutual goals developed.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of 12 weeks of aerobic exercise training on blood vessel function in Stages 1-4 Chronic Kidney Disease.

There is a large gap between the care seriously ill patients want and the care they receive. Advance directives (ADs) offer an opportunity for patients to express specific end-of-life preferences to avoid unwanted care. As promising as ADs may be for improving the quality of care near the end of life, rates of AD completion remain low and previous efforts to encourage their completion have had limited success. Principles of behavioral economics, such as the effects of defaults and other framing effects, may offer a novel approach to bridge the gap in end-of-life care. The goal of this study is to test whether the framing effect of expanding choice sets can increase the completion of and specification of choices within advance directives.

It is well established that renal hypoxia is associated with the development of renal injury. The purpose of this study is measure the alterations in renal blood oxygenation after angiotensin II converting enzyme inhibition. The understanding of kidney adaptive mechanisms to renin angiotensin system effects in healthy subjects will be useful for the early detection of renal disease and for the development of new therapies to decrease the progression of the disease and its consequences.