Has mortality from acute renal failure decreased?
We generally think of medical research as a good thing. Billions of dollars go into new approaches, new treatment, new methods of detection. But do they really change things? In many cases, the answer is no. How many untold billions have gone into AIDS research without anything even resembling a cure? Many cancers still have high mortality rates.
This study reviews 50 years of technological advances in renal treatment, but finds no overall change in mortality rates. I’ve said it a thousand times before and I will continue to say it–prevention is infinitely better than a cure. Lets spend even a mere 10% of the large organizations’ budget (Amer Heart, Amer Cancer, Amer Diabetes) for prevention and we would see a huge return on investment in just a few short years. Does everyone know that Tylenol and ibuprofen damage the kidneys? Or that a large chunk of patients on dialysis got there because they took too much Tylenol? Probably not.