Sympathetic hyperactivity in haemodialysis patients is reduced by short daily haemodialysis.

Objective: Haemodialysis patients often have sympathetic hyperactivity. The hypothesis of this study was that a switch from three times weekly to short daily dialysis could affect sympathetic hyperactivity.

Methods: We studied 11 patients (eight men; aged 46 +/- 8 years) stable on haemodialysis for at least 1 year before and 6 months after conversion from three times to six times weekly dialysis without increasing total dialysis time (short daily dialysis).

Effect of short daily home haemodialysis on quality of life, cognitive functioning and the electroencephalogram.

Background: End-stage renal disease patients have a poor quality of life (QoL), suffer from impaired cognitive functioning, and their electroencephalogram (EEG) shows abnormalities. Conventional haemodialysis (CHD) only partially restores these disorders. Short daily haemodialysis (SDHD) has been reported to improve QoL, but effects on cognitive functioning and EEG have yet to be described.