Nutrition, anaemia and erythropoietin therapy

During the last decade, recombinant human erythropoietin has revolutionised the management of renal anaemia. It is highly effective in the vast majority of patients treated, causing enhanced erythropoiesis and a rise in haemoglobin concentration. This has resulted not only in amelioration of uraernic symptoms, but there has also been objective evidence of improved quality-of-life, exercise capacity, and cardiac function [I]. The most striking benefits seen have been progression of left ventricular hypertrophy which is known to account for much of the high cardiovascular morbidity and mortality seen in dialysis patients. and thus the arguments for correcting renal anaemia is now overwhelming. There is also an improvement in nutrition following erythropoietin therapy, over and above the improvement in appetite associated with correction of the anaemia.