Moderator's view: Higher serum bicarbonate in dialysis patients is protective

Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh1

  • 1Harold Simmons Center for Chronic Disease Research and Epidemiology, Division of Nephrology and Hypertension, University of California Irvine School of Medicine, 101 City Drive South, City Tower, Orange, CA 92868-3217, USA Los Angeles Biomedical Research Institute at Harbor-UCLA, Torrance, CA, USA Veterans Affairs Long Beach Healthcare System, Long Beach, CA, USA.

Summary

Higher serum bicarbonate levels in dialysis patients may not increase mortality risk. This association could be due to undernutrition, not a direct biological link, suggesting careful management of bicarbonate levels is prudent.

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