Patients suffering with end-stage renal disease could increase their survival chances by undergoing intensive dialysis at home rather than the conventional dialysis in clinics.
A new study by Lawson Health Research Institute shows the potential of more intensive dialysis completed in a home setting, The Guardian Reported. The study found that patients who underwent intensive dialysis at home have better survival rates than patients who had conventional dialysis in clinics. Intensive dialysis patients also had better blood pressure results and biocheical test values than conventional dialysis patients. Dr. Gihad Nesrallah, a Lawson researcher, led the observational study comparing at home intensive dialysis and conventional dialysis in clinics. Intensive dialysis at home consists of eight hours of treatment, three to seven nights a week. Conventional dialysis that takes place in dialysis clinics is usually conducted in less than five hours, three days per week. Dialysis providers and governments recognize the benefits of home-based dialysis. The Ontario Renal Network has made independent, at home dialysis a priority for funding more frequent or longer term dialysis therapy. More observational studies, such as this one are needed to further investigate why intensive dialysis at home is more beneficial to the survival of patients.
“Strategies to improve survival for persons with end-stage renal disease are needed, and more intensive dialysis represents one of the more promising options that had emerged in the last two decades. We think that patients may wish to seriously consider intensive hemodialysis where possible,” said Dr Nesrallah.
Meraj Khalid remembered: Former caretaker Prime Minister Malik Meraj Khalid was remembered on his death anniversary Wednesday.
Malik Meraj Khalid was born in 1916 in a small village near Lahore. He studied Law and began his practice in 1948. He was elected to the Provincial Assembly in 1965. He joined the Pakistan People’s Party soon after its inception in 1968 and was appointed President of Lahore PPP. He was re-elected to the National Assembly in 1970. Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto inducted Meraj Khalid in his cabinet as minister for food and agriculture and under-developed areas in December 1971.
In November 1972, he was appointed chief of the party’s parliamentary affairs, and in 1975 he was given the portfolios of social welfare, local government and rural development.
Later, he was elected speaker of the National Assembly. After the execution of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in April 1979, he was nominated member of the PPP’s Central Committee. But he resigned in January 1988. He was again appointed as speaker of the National Assembly in 1988. He lost the elections in 1993 and remained aloof from politics for some time and served as the rector of International Islamic University Islamabad.
Workshop to promote intangible cultural heritage held: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has organized a workshop, aimed at promoting intangible cultural heritage of Pakistan through capacity building.
The opening session of the four-day workshop was organized in Lahore where eminent experts of cultural heritage sites in Pakistan spoke in length on the topic. Director UNESCO, Dr Kozue Kay Nagata mentioned Indus valley and Gandhara civilizations and appreciated the deep-rooted history and cultural heritage of Pakistan.
According to UNESCO here on Wednesday, she said although the term intangible cultural heritage is relatively new but the concept is as old as humanity. This intangible cultural heritage, transmitted from generation to generation, is constantly recreated by communities in response to their environment, their interaction with nature and history, and provides them with a sense of identity and continuity, said Dr. Nagata. Secretary Culture and Information, Punjab, Mohyuddin Ahmad Wani appreciated the role of UNESCO to protect and safeguard the Intangible Culture and thanked Dr. Kozue Kay Nagata for supporting and organizing the said workshop. The resource person emphasized the need to promote the diversity of culture in order to build the climate of peace and tolerance. Highlighting the importance of the capacity building workshop on the implementation of 2003 convention she called it a major step towards gaining the advantage from the mechanism established by the 2003 convention. The workshop focuses on understanding the 2003 convention, its implementation and how to benefit from the mechanism of international cooperation established by the convention.
