Kidney Disease

Edwina Brown is a clinical nephrologist with a special interest in patient outcomes, particularly the elderly, on dialysis. Over the last decade she has developed an increasing interest in the support and management of renal patients at their end of life. She was an editor of Supportive Care for the Renal Patient, first published by Oxford University Press in 2004 and with a second edition in 2010, has published and lectured extensively on the topic and runs an annual course on Supportive Care for the Renal Patient. She is currently a member of the UK End of Life Care for Advanced Kidney Care Disease Project Board.Fliss qualified in medicine in the UK in 1986. She initially trained in General Practice, and worked as a General Practitioner from 1992 - 2000, then undertook specialist training in palliative medicine between 2000 and 2004. She went on to undertake a PhD at King's College London, on 'Improving the quality of care of patients with Stage 5 Chronic Kidney Disease managed without dialysis' in the Department of Palliative Care, Policy & Rehabilitation at King's College London. She has now gained a HEFCE Clinical Senior Lecturership - one of the first nationally in Palliative Care. She is based at King's College London and King's College Hospital. She has published on the palliative and end of life care needs of renal patients, including on symptoms, withdrawal from dialysis, survival, and use of opioids. Fliss has a keen interest in longitudinal study, including methodological development, and symptom and functional trajectories in the last year of life (including for renal patients).

This is a compact but detailed guide on palliative care and treatment of renal failure in the terminal stage. The book will be very helpful for doctors and nurses.

• 1. End-stage kidney disease ; 2. Comorbidity ; 3. Complications of end-stage kidney disease ; 4. Causes of death in end-stage kidney disease ; 5. Health-related quality of life in end-stage kidney disease ; 6. Symptom assessment and trajectories ; 7. The management of pain ; 8. Non-pain symptoms in end-stage kidney disease ; 9. How to deliver best supportive and palliative care ; 10. Recognizing dying ; 11. Communicating with patients and families ; 12. Ethical and legal considerations ; 13. Management of the last few days ; 14. Spiritual and religious care ; 15. Caring for the carers ; 16. Drug doses in advanced chronic kidney disease ; 17. Audit and research in renal end of life care