How Do Phosphate Binders Affect Blood Phosphate Levels? In patients with chronic kidney disease, doctors are concerned with many elements of the diet. For example, many times protein is restricted prior to being on dialysis. Once a patient is on dialysis, the focus changes and protein is increased. This is because the dialysis equipment does the job of the kidneys in processing waste. The same can be said for other nutrients such as salt, phosphorus, and potassium. While your kidneys still have the ability to do some level of filtering, dietary management through limiting protein, salt, potassium and phosphorus is managed by following a meal plan specified for the stage of kidney disease. Phosphate in particular is associated with an increased mortality rates for every mg/dl above 5.6. As your body reduces its ability to filter phosphate, the increased levels of phosphate can be harmful to your cardiovascular system. Phosphate binders are medications, that when taken with a meal, reduce the amount of phosphate absorbed. This in effect lowers the blood level of phosphate when taken consistently. Many doctors prescribe calcium containing phosphate binders and these should be taken with meals to reduce the overall absorption of phosphate and further damage to kidneys. What many people do not realize is that our bodies are very efficient at managing the levels of phosphate in the blood, and when your kidneys cannot process it correctly, it can raise the amount of PTH (parathyroid hormone). Hyper parathyroid hormone levels can affect blood calcium which also affects heart functionality.
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