Question: What are the treatments for Mineral and Bone Disorder in Chronic Kidney Disease ?
Answer: Treating mineral and bone disorder in CKD includes preventing damage to bones by controlling parathyroid hormone levels through changes in eating, diet, and nutrition; medications and supplements; and dialysis. If these treatments do not bring parathyroid hormone levels under control, a health care provider may remove a persons parathyroid glands surgically, a procedure called a parathyroidectomy.
Eating, Diet, and Nutrition
Changes in diet can treat mineral and bone disorder in CKD. Reducing dietary intake of phosphorus is one of the most important steps in preventing bone disease. Most foods contain phosphorus; however, processed and packaged foods contain especially high levels of phosphorus. Food producers use phosphorus as an additive to preserve the food on the shelf. People who have CKD or are on dialysis should avoid packaged foods containing ingredients that include the letters PHOS. A renal dietitian can help develop a dietary plan to control phosphorus levels in the blood. Some drinks and natural foods also contain high amounts of phosphorus, including
- beer - cheese - cocoa - dark sodas - dried beans - milk - nuts - peanut butter - peas
More information is provided in the NIDDK health topics, How To Read a Food Label: Tips for People with Chronic Kidney Disease and Phosphorus: Tips for People with Chronic Kidney Disease.
Medications and Supplements
Medications protect the bones by restoring the proper balance of minerals and hormones. If the kidneys do not make adequate amounts of calcitriol, a health care provider may prescribe synthetic calcitriol as a pill (Rocaltrol) or, for dialysis patients, in an injectable form (Calcijex). Calcitriol helps reduce parathyroid hormone levels. Medications called doxercalciferol (Hectorol) and paricalcitol (Zemplar) act like calcitriol because they are also activated forms of vitamin D. A health care provider may prescribe a calcium supplement in addition to calcitriol or another activated form of vitamin D.
Certain forms of vitamin Davailable by prescription or as over-the-counter vitamin supplementsrequire activation by a persons kidneys before they can act as calcitriol does. However, the benefits of some of these not-yet-activated forms of vitamin Dfor example, ergocalciferol (Calciferol, Drisdol) or cholecalciferol (Delta D3)are unclear. To help ensure coordinated and safe care, people should discuss their use of alternative medications, including use of vitamin and mineral supplements, with their health care provider.
Cinacalcet hydrochloride (Sensipar) belongs to another class of prescription medications called calcimimetics. Cinacalcet lowers parathyroid hormone levels by imitating calciums effects on the parathyroid gland. Generally, this medication is used only in people on dialysis.
Often, health care providers will prescribe medications called phosphate binderssuch as calcium carbonate (Tums), calcium acetate (PhosLo), sevelamer carbonate (Renvela), or lanthanum carbonate (Fosrenol)to take with meals and snacks to bind phosphorus in the bowel. These medications decrease the absorption of phosphorus into the blood.
Dialysis
Dialysis is the process of filtering wastes and extra fluid from the body by means other than the kidneys. The two forms of dialysis are hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis:
- Hemodialysis uses a machine to circulate a persons blood through a filter outside the body. The blood passes from a patients body through a needle, at nearly 1 pint per minute. The blood then travels through a tube that takes it to the filter, called a dialyzer. Inside the dialyzer, the blood flows through thin fibers that filter out wastes and extra fluid. After the machine filters the blood, it passes back to the body through another tube. More information is provided in the NIDDK health topic, Treatment Methods for Kidney Failure: Hemodialysis. - Peritoneal dialysis uses the lining of the abdomen to filter a persons blood inside the body. A soft tube called a catheter is placed in the patients abdomen a few weeks before peritoneal dialysis begins. A person uses the catheter to fill the empty space inside the abdomen with dialysis solutiona kind of salty waterfrom a plastic bag. While inside the body, the dialysis solution absorbs wastes and extra fluid. After a few hours, the person drains the used dialysis solution into another bag for disposal. The person then restarts the process with a fresh bag of dialysis solution. More information is provided in the NIDDK health topic, Treatment Methods for Kidney Failure: Peritoneal Dialysis.
Increasing a persons dialysis dose can help control the blood phosphorus level. In hemodialysis, the health care provider can adjust the dose by increasing how quickly the blood flows to and from the dialyzer. Another way to adjust the dose involves increasing the time of a persons dialysis session or the number of sessions. In peritoneal dialysis, using more dialysis solution in each fill or increasing the number of fills each day increases the dose. More information is provided in the NIDDK health topics:
- Hemodialysis Dose and Adequacy - Peritoneal Dialysis Dose and Adequacy
Parathyroidectomy
If diet, medications, and dialysis cant control parathyroid hormone levels, a surgeon can remove one or more of the parathyroid glands. He or she performs the procedure using general anesthesia.
A good treatment program, including a low-phosphorus diet, appropriate medications, adequate dialysis, and, if necessary, surgery, can improve the bodys ability to repair bones damaged by mineral and bone disorder in CKD. Overall, people can improve their bone health by exercising and not smoking. People should consult a health care provider before beginning any exercise program.