Heart failure and chronic kidney disease – that is the connection
Heart failure is the main cause of hospital admissions for people over 65 years old – with 26 million cases worldwide and the trend is rising. Chronic stage 3 to 5 kidney disease affects 32 million patients worldwide. Science has only recently discovered the connection.
Today, 6 to 8% of the population in western industrialized countries suffer from chronic kidney disease. This percentage rises sharply in patients with heart failure, to 40 to 70% of those affected. In addition, the value of people with cardiovascular diseases is higher than that of the general population, which underpins the connection between heart and kidney problems.
In recent decades, the importance of excess and lack of fluids for the prognosis of both diseases, but also specifically for the development of kidney diseases in heart failure patients, has been recognized. Many studies in the past have focused on venous congestion rather than the relationship between reduced heart function and reduced kidney function.
Treatment of fluid balance disorders has come to the forefront recently,
research has focused on a new method to better assess fluid status, particularly fluid retention, to diagnose and prevent kidney and heart disease. Thus, acute decompensation events are to be controlled better and better in the future and the mortality of the affected patients is to be reduced.
This results in a new dogma for nephrologists, the specialists for kidney and high-pressure diseases: “The treatment of disorders in the fluid balance comes first, after which we take care of the kidney”.
However, it is still problematic that, according to the latest estimates, one in two patients with disturbances in the body fluid balance is still discharged – with the immediate consequence of hospital admission again.
With our vision to drastically reduce both the number and length of hospital stay for patients, BOCAhealth already offers a solution to the problem. During the hospital stay, BOCAhealth supports the attending physicians with the measurement and analysis of the fluid status, the dosage of diuretics and blood pressure medication, as well as with adequate hydration.
Patients can carry out measurements comfortably and safely from home and automatically transfer the information obtained to the responsible doctor through the software connection.
BOCAhealth wants to change the lives of heart and kidney patients and support them throughout their treatment.