Abstract
Japan's total dialysis patient population at the end of the year 2001 was 219, 183, an increase of more than ten thousand over last few years. The annual crude mortality rate was more than 9%. The mean patient age at the initiation of dialysis treatment was increasing, and the mean age of the overall dialysis patient population was over 60 years. Among the primary diagnosis, the prevalence of diabetic nephropathy continued to increase to near 40%. Therefore, the number of dialysis patient population with several complications at the beginning of dialysis was supposed to increase. The quality of life and the survival rate offered by long-term hemodialytic therapy varies in patients depending on several factors including age, renal diagnosis, comorbid conditions (diabetes, cardiovascular disease), nutritional status and so on. In this paper, I focus on several complications among the many complications of chronic hemodialysis, such as cardiovascular disease, amyloidosis and vascular access complications.
