Tips to Ease Back-To-School Anxiety

Updated on Aug 25, 2023 | Featured, Your Health

As the back-to-school season approaches, it’s not uncommon for young children to experience butterflies in their stomachs. Back-to-school feelings of anxiety are a natural and often healthy response to change.

The team at the Mount Sinai Parenting Center at Mount Sinai Kravis Children’s Hospital has developed some simple and effective ways to help your child learn how to get through the discomfort of uncertainty. Remember your job as a parent is not to spare your child the anxiety, it is to help them prepare for, sit with, and manage their feelings of anxiety.

The Mount Sinai Parenting Center Team:

  • Blair Hammond, MD, Co-Founding Director for the Mount Sinai Parenting Center and pediatrician in the Department of Pediatrics
  • Aliza Pressman, PhD, Co-founder, Mount Sinai Parenting Center, and Assistant Clinical Professor, Pediatrics, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
  • Mariel Benjamin, LCSW, Director of Programs, Mount Sinai Parenting Center

Here are 10 simple tips to make the process smoother for both you and your child:

  • Create a Routine: Start by establishing a consistent daily routine a few weeks before school begins. Set regular mealtimes, playtimes, and bedtimes. Predictability provides some certainty in an uncertain experience. Click here to watch a special video about sticking to consistent morning and bedtime routines.
  • Feelings: Get Hold of Our Own Feelings and All Are Welcome: Make sure you have support managing some of the anxiety that comes with watching kids try new things and feel new feelings. Model and remind your child that there are no “bad” feelings and that feelings serve to give us information. Let them know it makes sense to feel a little nervous with new experiences. Share your own stories of first-day jitters from your childhood, showing them that many people feel this way.
  • Keep Sleep Sacred: Help make sure your child is getting enough sleep. A tired brain is more vulnerable to anxiety and has fewer resources to call on the tools that will help them manage their anxiety.
  • Play “School” at Home: Incorporate pretend play to familiarize your child with the idea of school. Take turns playing the teacher and student, using stuffed animals or dolls as classmates. This playful approach can ease their fear of the unknown.
  • Explore the School Together: Arrange a visit to the school before the first day. Walk around the campus, visit classrooms, and playgrounds. Let your child ask questions and share their thoughts. Familiarity can ease their apprehensions.
  • Get Creative with Supplies: Involve your child in choosing their school supplies, backpack, and lunchbox. Letting them make decisions empowers them and creates excitement about the upcoming adventure.
  • Positive Stories and Imagery: Read age-appropriate books or tell stories about positive school experiences. Use positive imagery and stories to help your child envision a happy and exciting school day.
  • Practice Separation: If separation anxiety is a concern, practice short separations at home. Leave them with a trusted caregiver for a brief period and gradually extend the time. This can help them build confidence in being apart. Remember not to sneak out, but to explicitly state when you will be away and when you will be reunited.
  • Encourage Friendship Building: Arrange playdates with potential classmates or neighbors. Familiar faces on the first day can make a big difference in how comfortable your child feels.
  • Teach Relaxation Techniques: Simple techniques like taking deep breaths or holding a soft toy can help soothe anxious feelings. Practice these techniques together so they can use them when needed.

Back-to-school feelings of anxiety in young children is a natural part of growing up. By implementing these tips, you can help your child transition with ease and excitement.

Your support and understanding play a crucial role in making this new experience a positive one. With your guidance, your child can step into the classroom with confidence and enthusiasm.

Learn more about the Mount Sinai Parenting Center
Watch more videos on everything you need to know about the age and stage of your child from birth to age 5

Here’s What to Know About the First Approved Pill Treatment for Postpartum Depression

Updated on Aug 17, 2023 | Featured, Research, Your Health

On Friday, August 4, 2023, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Zurzuvae™ (zuranolone), developed by pharmaceutical firms Biogen and Sage Therapeutics, to treat postpartum depression. The treatment is a pill taken once daily for 14 days, and is the first oral treatment approved for this condition.

“We’re happy there’s attention for a disease that has not gotten much attention thus far,” says Veerle Bergink, MD, PhD, Director of the Women’s Mental Health Program, and Professor of Psychiatry, and Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Science at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Zurzavae had received Fast Track and Priority Review designations from the FDA, deemed as having potential to address a serious unmet need.

Veerle Bergink, MD, PhD (left) and Kimberly Mangla, MD (right)

Postpartum depression occurs often enough in mothers, yet the public’s understanding of it remains limited, says Kimberly Mangla, MD, Clinical Director of the Women’s Mental Health Program at Icahn Mount Sinai. “I’m glad we have an additional, possibly effective treatment for patients, and hopefully it will raise conversations and awareness of postpartum depression resources and treatment options,” she adds.

Drs. Bergink and Mangla explain what postpartum depression is, and how Zurzuvae could potentially treat it.

What is postpartum depression?

Postpartum depression can appear similar to other forms of clinical depression, with symptoms that include general low mood, lack of enjoyment, low energy, and low motivation, says Dr. Mangla. But there are unique aspects, such as difficulty bonding with the baby.

Postpartum depression is also different from what is commonly called “baby blues,” which is a common phenomenon of feeling overwhelmed, tearful, or being “hormonal,” notes Dr. Mangla. Baby blues tend to go away after two weeks. “What would be alarming might be feelings of hopelessness, suicidality, or a complete disconnect from the baby that aren’t necessarily a component of baby blues—those are reasons to seek support for what might be postpartum depression,” Dr. Mangla says.

While regulatory or insurance entities might define postpartum depression as occurring within four weeks after delivery, experts in the field—clinicians and researchers—agree that onset can be highly variable, even up to 12 months after delivery, says Dr. Bergink.

“From a psychological or physiological point of view, we know that it could take half a year for a woman’s hormones and immune system to go back to normal,” says Dr. Bergink. “And we have heard women say it could take up to a year before they feel like the person they were before delivery, and psychologically used to the new state of being a mother.”

What is Zurzavae, and how does it work?

Many current antidepressants work by targeting the serotonin system, but this drug works by targeting the gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor GABAA. While there are other drugs in this class of antidepressants, this is the first one approved for postpartum depression, says Dr. Bergink.

How common is postpartum depression?

One in Eight

or about 13 percent of women, have symptoms of depression after birth of baby.

>15 percent

of women in NYC experience depression symptoms after childbirth.

One in Five

women were not asked about depression during a prenatal visit.

>50 percent

of pregnant women with depression were not treated.

Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

However, it is important to note that while this differs from serotonergic antidepressants, there have been no comparative studies done to demonstrate that Zurzavae is any better or worse than other antidepressant treatments out there, she points out. It is also unknown to what extent there is an antidepressant effect beyond the sedative effect, she adds.

What treatment options had been available for postpartum depression?

If the depression is not so severe, options include support therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy or psychotherapy, says Dr. Bergink. If it is more severe, then the doctor might consider using antidepressants, such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).

How might Zurzavae differ from other antidepressants?

The way the drug has been marketed is that it works more rapidly than SSRIs, says Dr. Mangla. “Whether or not that’s true, and whether or not that benefit is sustained, we still have no idea,” she says, “but it would be wonderful to have a medication that starts working in three days instead of a few weeks.”

There are still some open questions clinicians might have with Zurzuvae at this point, notes Dr. Bergink. These include its effect on women who are breastfeeding, and whether the drug will keep depression away long beyond the study period, which was 45 days, she says.

What sources of support can mothers experiencing depression seek?

Generally, a mom experiencing depression symptoms should talk to anyone who is in her support system, says Dr. Mangla. This could include friends and family, but also a primary care doctor who might be able to make a referral to a general psychiatrist.

“Because the treatment of depression in postpartum is so similar to treatment of depression outside of postpartum, the disease is often well treated by general practitioners or general psychiatrists,” says Dr. Mangla.

Seeking help from social workers can be useful too. There are many ways mothers can access social workers, including through a local health institution, or even via online resources, such as Postpartum Support International, notes Dr. Mangla.

“Postpartum depression is a very treatable condition,” says Dr. Bergink. “We should do all we can to help mothers feel comfortable about reaching out for support.”

Learn more about women's mental health services and reproductive psychiatry

What has Zurzuvae shown in clinical trials?

Zurzuvae was approved based on data from two randomized, placebo-controlled trials in postpartum depression.

Here are the efficacy and safety highlights:

  • Both studies achieved their primary endpoint: a significant mean reduction from baseline in the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAMD-17) total score, a 17-item questionnaire on depression symptoms compared to placebo.
  • In one study, Zurzuvae achieved a significant reduction in depressive symptoms as early as day three.
  • Most common side effects of patients on Zurzuvae included drowsiness, dizziness, diarrhea, fatigue, and urinary tract infection.
  • The FDA has included a warning on Zurzuvae’s label that instructs health care providers to advise patients that the drug causes driving impairment due to sedative effects, and patients should not engage in activities that require mental alertness until at least 12 hours after the 14-day treatment.

 

AI Spotlight: Mapping Out Links Between Drugs and Birth Defects

Aug 9, 2023 | Featured, Research

Avi Ma’ayan, PhD, Director of the Mount Sinai Center for Bioinformatics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Birth defects can be linked to many factors—genetic, environmental, even pure chance. Characterizing the links of any factor to congenital abnormalities is a daunting task, given the vastness of the problem.

In the face of this challenge, a team of researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai tapped artificial intelligence (AI) methods to shed light on associations between existing medications and their potential to induce specific birth abnormalities.

“We wanted to improve our understanding of reproductive health and fetal development, and importantly, warn about the potential of new drugs to cause birth defects before these drugs are widely marketed and distributed,” says Avi Ma’ayan, PhD, Professor of Pharmacological Sciences and Director of the Mount Sinai Center for Bioinformatics at Icahn Mount Sinai.

The team developed a knowledge graph—a descriptive model that maps out the relationships between entities and concepts—called ReproTox-KG to integrate data about small-molecule drugs, birth defects, and genes. In addition to constructing the knowledge graph, the team also used machine learning, specifically semi-supervised learning, to illuminate unexplored links between some drugs and birth defects.

Here’s how ReproTox-KG works as a knowledge graph to predict birth defects.

Video Player

The study examined more than 30,000 preclinical small-molecule drugs for their potential to cross the placenta and induce birth defects, and identified more than 500 “cliques”—interlinked clusters between birth defects, genes, and drugs—that can be used to explain molecular mechanisms for drug-induced birth defects. Findings were published in Communications Medicine on July 17, and the platform has been made available on a web-based user interface.

In this Q&A, Dr. Ma’ayan, senior author of the paper, discusses ReproTox-KG and its potential impacts.

What was the motivation for your study?

The motivation for the study was to find a use case that combines several datasets produced by National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund programs to demonstrate how integrating data from these resources can lead to synergistic discoveries, particularly in the context of reproductive health.

The study identifies some relationships between approved drugs and birth defects to identify existing drugs that are currently not classified as harmful but which may pose risks to the development of a fetus. It also provides a new global framework to assess potential toxicity for new drugs and explain the biological mechanisms by which some drugs known to cause birth defects may operate.

What are the implications?

Identifying the causes of birth defects is complicated and difficult. But we hope that through complex data analysis integrating evidence from multiple sources, we can improve our understanding of reproductive health and fetal development, and also warn about the potential of new drugs to cause birth defects before these drugs are widely marketed and distributed.

What are the limitations of the study?

We have not yet experimentally validated any of the predictions. There are currently no considerations of tissue and cell type, and the knowledge graph representation omits some detail from the original datasets for the sake of standardization. The website that supports the study may not be appealing to a large audience.

How might these findings be put to use?

Regulatory agencies such as the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the Food and Drug Administration may use the approach to evaluate the risk of new drug or other chemical applications. Manufacturers of drugs, cosmetics, supplements, and foods may consider the approach to evaluate the compounds they include in products.

What is your plan for following up on this study?

We plan to use a similar graph-based approach for other projects focusing on the relationship between genes, drugs, and diseases. We also aim to use the processed dataset as training materials for courses and workshops on bioinformatics analysis. Additionally, we plan to extend the study to consider more complex data, such as gene expression from specific tissues and cell types collected at multiple stages of development.

Learn more about how Mount Sinai researchers and clinicians are leveraging machine learning to improve patient lives

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How to Keep Your Kids Safe This Summer and All Year Round: Tips From the ER

Aug 8, 2023 | Featured, Your Health

Summer is a time for kids to have fun, enjoy vacations, and especially their favorite outdoor activities. It’s also a time for parents to take notice, as many outdoor injuries and health hazards are preventable.

Chris Strother, MD, and Lauren Zinns, MD, emergency medicine specialists at The Mount Sinai Hospital and associate professors in emergency medicine and pediatrics at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, share five key takeaways to help parents, caregivers, and families recognize and avoid common injuries and health hazards.

Young children are at a high risk of choking

  • Common things they choke on are hot dogs, grapes, and small round toys. Ensure that food is cut into small pieces and that young children are supervised when they are eating.
  • If your child is unable to cough or breathe while choking, call 911 first, then try these maneuvers:
    • For children younger than one year old: Place the infant face down on your arm resting on your thigh. With the palm of your other hand, give the baby five short, yet forceful, blows between the shoulder blades. If that is unsuccessful, place the infant on the back, put two of your fingers in the center of the chest below the nipples and press five times.  Continue five back blows and five chest thrusts until the foreign body is removed. Never place your finger inside the infant’s mouth as that could push the foreign body in further.
    • For children older than one year of age: Stand behind the child with your arms around the child’s waist. Make a fist and place it below the chest just above the navel.  Grab the fist with your other hand and push upward repeatedly until the food particle or toy is removed.

Click here for more information about how to help someone who is choking and for helpful illustrations.

Bug bites and insect stings can cause mild to severe allergic reactions in kids

  • Experts recommend bug spray on all exposed areas of skin, especially in the evenings when flying bugs are out the most, or in wooded areas where ticks are more likely to be found.
  • If your child has a tick, try to remove it as soon as possible.
  • Call your pediatrician if you notice a target-like lesion, as this could represent early signs of Lyme disease.
  • Mosquito bites will often cause a local allergic reaction at the site, this is usually not dangerous. If the area becomes very large, is very painful, or if your child develops a fever, the site might be infected. Call your pediatrician or go to the Pediatric Emergency Department.

Practice safety in the water

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) reports that drowning is the single leading cause of death among children ages 1 to 4. Adult supervision is critical at all times.

  • Always swim with others.
  • Learn to swim at a young age and practice.
  • Wear a life jacket.
  • Be aware of weather conditions.
  • Make sure there is a lifeguard. If you aren’t watching the water, make sure someone else is watching for you, particularly with young children.
  • Here are more tips from the AAP.

Riding bikes and scooting can be great exercise

  • Wear a helmet when riding a bike or scooting. Accidents can happen fast.
  • Keep your bike “tuned up.” Make sure brakes work well and tires are inflated and in good condition.
  • Always obey traffic laws; ride with traffic if riding in the street.
  • Wear bright colors when in the street so cars can see you.

Heat awareness: Make sure to hydrate

  • Hydrate before and after you are in the heat. People don’t often think to drink before they go out, but it makes a huge difference to prevent dehydration.
  • Look for shade if possible, and take frequent breaks from activity to rest.
  • Sunblock is essential. Ensure that children are covered with sunscreen 30 SPF or greater to prevent burns, pain, and skin cancer later in life. Reapply frequently after swimming.
Learn more about Pediatrics at Mount Sinai

COVID-19 Cases Have Been Rising. Here’s What You Need to Know.

Updated on Jan 9, 2024 | COVID-19, Featured

If you are noticing that people you know are getting COVID-19, you are probably not alone. In fact, the number of cases in the New York area has risen recently. But this type of periodic fluctuation has been expected and is generally not a reason for concern, experts say.

“There is no reason to dramatically change our behavior when it comes to basic safety precautions and protecting vulnerable people,” says Bernard Camins, MD, MSc, Professor of Medicine (Infectious Diseases) at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Medical Director for Infection Prevention for the Mount Sinai Health System.

Among the possible reasons for an uptick in hospitalizations could be the recent extreme hot weather that pushed people to stay indoors, or that people are gathering more because of summer travel.

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reports hospitalizations in New York surged in July, but the number is still a small fraction of what it was in January of 2022 during the last big surge. There have been virtually no deaths for several months.

You may have heard about a new variant of COVID-19, known as Eris. Mutations or changes in the virus are normal and expected, and experts track them closely. In this case, there does not seem to be anything significantly different about this new subvariant. It causes the same symptoms, and people do not get sicker when infected by it.

Most important, Dr. Camins’ recommendations remain unchanged:

  • Those at risk of complications from COVID-19 may want to wear a protective mask (N95 or KN95) in crowded areas.
  • Always wash your hands when you get home or arrive at work.
  • Individuals at high-risk should talk with their health care provider and have a plan for how to get antiviral medications if they become infected, as these prescription medications must be taken within the first five days of symptom onset. Those at high-risk include older adults, those with chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes, and those with reduced ability to fight infections, such as those being treated for some cancers.
  • If you feel stick, stay at home.

Bernard Camins, MD, MSc

Here are four key takeaways from Dr. Camins and heath care experts about how we are all living with COVID-19 now.

It’s endemic

COVID-19 is now considered endemic in our society, which means it is a constant presence, and we should expect it to come and go, such as the common cold or the seasonal flu. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) officially declared the end of the pandemic in May, 2023. A pandemic refers to a disease that spreads rapidly and beyond control around the world.

Be sure to check the right number

Since the official end of the pandemic, health authorities are no longer reporting the daily cases of COVID-19. One reason is those figures are no longer an accurate measure because so many people are testing at home if they suspect they may be infected. Hospitalizations are still being reported. Ongoing measurements of the level of SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater may be a better measure of how widespread the virus is in the population, and that has shown a slight uptick in recent weeks, according to Dr. Camins.

New vaccines are on the way

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is working with vaccine manufacturers to prepare a new COVID-19 vaccine booster for the fall that will target the latest variants. Any new vaccine must be approved for use by the FDA and then recommended by the CDC and state health authorities before you can get it.

Don’t forget your flu shot

Now is the time to begin thinking about getting your flu shot. September and October are the best times to get the flu shot, according to the CDC. In addition, you may want to talk with your provider about the a vaccine against Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms but can be serous for infants and older adults. The CDC is recommending the vaccine for older adults, adults with chronic heart or lung disease, with weakened immune systems, or those living in nursing homes or long-term care facilities. A CDC advisory committee has recommended the vaccine for infants under eight months.

Mount Sinai’s Role in Hemodialysis: From the First Treatment in the United States to Continuing Innovations

Updated on Sep 14, 2023 | Featured, Research

It has been more than 75 years since Mount Sinai conducted the first hemodialysis treatment in the United States in 1948, a monumental accomplishment, and Mount Sinai continues to play a leading role in research to help patients in need of this lifesaving treatment.

The first type of dialyzer, called the artificial kidney, was built in 1943 by a Dutch physician, Willem Kolff, MD, PhD, working in the Netherlands during World War II. He attempted to treat more than a dozen patients with acute kidney failure over the next two years and continuously improved his machine design.

In 1947, Dr. Kolff came to the United States to demonstrate his model artificial kidney at The Mount Sinai Hospital. On January 1948, Alfred Fishman, MD, and Irving Kroop, MD, who had been trained by Dr. Kolff, used his machine for the first time to treat a patient with acute renal failure who eventually recovered completely. That first dialysis took place at 11 pm on January 26, 1948. It lasted for six hours, and it represents the first clinical use of the artificial kidney in the United States.

As this showcased the latest technology, many visitors came to the operating room galleries to see the machine in action. It was the only one in New York City at the time. Patients from other hospitals were transferred to Mount Sinai to receive treatment. When a patient was too ill to travel, they packed up the machine and drove it over.

Dr. Kolff later shared his machines with other hospitals. When he returned to Holland, one of his machines stayed at Mount Sinai.

Over the next two years, the same team continued using this machine for dialytic therapy in patients with acute renal failure.  As a result of this work, The Mount Sinai Hospital opened the first artificial kidney center in New York in 1957, which included new designs that were engineered by staff. This was led by Sherman Kupfer, MD, who spent his career at Mount Sinai and made several contributions to the study of kidney disease.

Maintenance hemodialysis therapy for patients with advanced chronic kidney disease would not start until several years later in 1960 by Belding Scribner, MD, at the University of Washington in Seattle. The main problem for chronic maintenance hemodialysis was, and still is, maintenance of an open vascular access to perform the dialysis. Long-term use of native veins for dialysis blood access leads to eventual fibrosis and disappearance of veins; therefore the need for a special vascular access to secure long-term hemodialysis (HD).

The first meaningful breakthrough for vascular access came from Dr. Scribner’s group with the advent of the externalized Quinton-Scribner shunt. This access, first described in 1960, used the newly available material Teflon in an externalized circuit with cannulas placed in the radial artery and a peripheral vein in the arm that could subsequently be attached to the dialysis circuit. Although this method proved the first reliable, longer-term access for hemodialysis, it was still prone to the many infectious and hemorrhagic sequelae of its forebears.

The real answer to this problem also came from the Mount Sinai family when in 1966 Michael J. Brescia, MD, and colleagues at the Bronx VA Hospital published their seminal paper on how to perform hemodialysis using venipuncture of a surgically created arteriovenous fistula. The implementation of the surgically created arteriovenous fistula (AVF) allowed the development of modern chronic hemodialysis with about half a million of patients undergoing in-center hemodialysis three times weekly in the United States by 2020.

Over the past 75 years, many technological improvements have been done in hemodialysis machines, but the essence of the process remains unchanged since the early 1960s. Home hemodialysis very prevalent in the 1960s, became very uncommon afterwards, but there has been a recent surge of interest in it again. During this period of time we have also seen significant development of chronic peritoneal dialysis as another modality to provide long-term dialysis as well as the establishment and improvement of kidney transplantation as another therapy for chronic kidney disease.

“During all these years, The Mount Sinai Hospital has been at the forefront of all of these changes in the area of dialysis, making sure we offer all modalities of therapy as well as best level of care to all our patients,” says Jaime Uribarri, MD, Professor of Medicine (Nephrology). In this Q&A, Dr. Uribarri talks about the future of dialysis.

Jaime Uribarri, MD,

What research is currently being done at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in hemodialysis? Why is it important?

Several areas of research in hemodialysis are currently being performed at Mount Sinai. For example, Evren Azeloglu, PhD, Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology), and Pharmacological Sciences, and a team of researchers have invented a new implantable vascular access port that diminishes the risk of bleeding and infection in preclinical studies. The port also reduces pain and discomfort and allows easy self-cannulation, which enables safe home hemodialysis. This device is currently being perfected for future clinical use.

In addition, on a different front, Lili Chan, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine (Nephrology and Internal Medicine) has been working trying to use artificial intelligence to identify symptoms and social determinants of health from the electronic health records of patients on dialysis. This would potentially allow for measures to improve treatment and management of symptoms and other unmet social determinant of health, which are associated with adverse clinical outcomes in these patients.

Hemodialysis is needed because of the inexorable progression of some forms of chronic kidney disease. The Renal Division has been intensively studying and assessing potential therapies to slow progression to end stage renal disease and therefore delaying or avoiding the eventual need for dialysis.

What challenges remain in the delivery of hemodialysis, and how is Mount Sinai addressing those?

Many challenges remain in this arena. One challenge is there is limited access to dialysis centers in the community. Mount Sinai is addressing this by expanding our outpatient dialysis units to the outer boroughs. Also, limited access to home dialysis therapies, especially for minority populations remains a concern. Overall, the United States does not have enough home hemodialysis patients, and in-center hemodialysis is burdensome. Mount Sinai is addressing this by growing its home program and bringing a significant equity lens into it. Despite the great success with arteriovenous fistulas, vascular dialysis access patency, maintaining a way to access a patient’s veins, remains a problem. Mount Sinai is addressing this with its new implantable vascular access port.

How does the future of hemodialysis look like? 

The future of hemodialysis can be seen in several developments:

  • Technological advances of the machines should make the procedure easier.
  • An increasing proportion of patients are using home dialysis instead of in-center dialysis and are using peritoneal dialysis. Mount Sinai is positioned to help response to these changes.
  • Advances in pharmacological therapies are helping to slow the progression of chronic kidney disease as well as to increase the long-term survival of kidney transplants. This should decrease the need for hemodialysis in the future.

September 14, 2023: This post has been updated to include corrections regarding the history and development of the dialysis device at Mount Sinai.

 

Learn more about dialysis services at Mount Sinai

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