Nutritional therapy to attenuate inflammation in HD patients: fact or fiction?

The hemodialysis (HD) patient is often marked by constant malnutrition, inflammation, and atherosclerosis, resulting in an increased risk of cardiovascular events and mortality. This chronic inflammatory state is often the result of increased oxidative stress. Nutritional supplementation may become an additional therapy to lower this inflammatory burden. By providing these patients with nutritional supplement and antioxidant therapies consisting of alpha-lipoic acid, cholecalciferol, ascorbic acid, and Gamma-Tocopherol, providers may reduce overall inflammation and improve HD outcomes in patients with end-stage renal disease.