Quality of life and anemia: the nephrology experience

Even with the reservations that exist regarding the accuracy of tools to measure quality of life, there is little doubt that epoetin has dramatically improved the quality of life in patients with the anemia of chronic renal failure. Patients feel better and have increased energy levels, greater capacity for physical exercise, fewer symptoms of lethargy and tiredness, improved memory and concentration, and less angina and breathlessness. Cardiac, sexual, and cognitive functions all improve, and quality of life assessments suggest enhancements in both physical and social aspects of well-being. Furthermore, circumstantial evidence suggests that treatment with epoetin is quite likely to reduce cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with renal anemia. While chronic anemia has common characteristics irrespective of the etiology, the implications on quality of life in patients with chronic renal failure vary in a number of ways from those in patients with cancer.