Summary

• Page properties (1 modified, 0 added, 0 removed)

Details

Page properties

Content

...	...	@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@
129	129
130	130	Hyperkalemia can be caused by a variety of issues. Kidney disease can result in the elevation of potassium in the blood. Certain drugs such as the common hypertension medications known as RAAS inhibitors, which inhibit the renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system, can cause hyperkalemia. As a result, the dosage of RAAS inhibitors must often be significantly reduced in patients whose potassium levels are elevated (such as in those with CKD and heart failure). Because of the risk of hyperkalemia, several published guidelines have suggested that physicians should reduce and possibly discontinue RAAS inhibitors in order to manage the risk of hyperkalemia in CKD and heart failure patients. The alternative medications used to control hypertension, including diuretics and calcium channel blockers, are less effective than RAAS inhibitors, particularly in patients with failing kidneys and severe hypertension. According to the 2015 publication Market Dynamix: Hyperkalemia, released by Spherix Global Insights, U.S. cardiologists reported that of the patients who would benefit from RAAS inhibition, up to 38% of patients with heart failure and up to 55% of patients with both heart failure and CKD are being administered a sub-optimal dose or none at all. Nephrologists reported that at least one-third of patients who would benefit from RAAS inhibition receive a sub-optimal dose or none at all. The company believe there is clearly a strong medical need for new medications that control hyperkalemia in order to allow for optimal use of RAAS inhibitors to control hypertension in these patient populations.
131	131
132		-==== The hyperkalemia market ====
	132	+=== The hyperkalemia market ===
133	133
134	134	Of the people with CKD and/or heart failure in the United States, the company estimate that there are approximately 2.1 million people who also have occurrences of hyperkalemia. According to a retrospective study conducted in 2005 of a national cohort of 246,000 patients cared for in the Veterans Health Administration, about 21% and 42% of patients with CKD Stage 3b and Stage 4, respectively, had a hyperkalemic event during a 12-month period, suggesting that hyperkalemia affects about 900,000 individuals with CKD Stage 3b or Stage 4 in the United States. According to the United States Renal Data System 2014 Atlas of CKD & ESRD, over 50% of CKD Stage 3b and Stage 4 patients are prescribed RAAS inhibitors to control hypertension and to slow the course of CKD.
135	135