Geriatric Kidney Disease
As we age, our bodies change. Geriatric medicine offers you a new and better approach to your ongoing care. This is true when kidney function declines over the years.
Kidney disease in elderly patients is one of the fastest-growing health issues in the United States. The Mount Sinai Hospital is highly ranked for both geriatrics and nephrology by U.S. News & World Report.
Geriatric Nephrology Expertise
Our doctors are expert in treating geriatric kidney disease, and are board certified in both specialties. Our goal is to help you maintain your quality of life as advanced age approaches and chronic kidney disease progresses. We help you make choices that support your health, consulting with you and your family.
Our Health System has experts across multiple specialties, from cardiology to urology, and includes innovative researchers and physician-scientists at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.
Treatments We Offer
Whether you are admitted to the hospital or go home each day after your treatment, at Mount Sinai you have access to collaborative nephrology, geriatric, and palliative care services. As a kidney disease inpatient, you have access to consultations with our palliative care and geriatric specialists. As an outpatient, we provide expert primary geriatric care and supplemental services such as social work support, home care referrals, and mindfulness therapy.
To create the right treatment plan for you, we do a thorough assessment of your health, including a medication review. Our multidisciplinary team approach brings together compassionate specialists. We focus on limiting the time you spend in the hospital and giving you the best possible quality of life.
Transplantation
As an older adult in reasonably good health, if your heart is strong, and you have no major medical issues, your nephrologist may refer you to Mount Sinai's Recanati/Miller Transplantation Institute for a kidney transplant evaluation. If transplantation is not right for you, there are other options.
Dialysis and alternatives
Dialysis is the usual therapy for advanced kidney disease. However, you may not want dialysis, and Mount Sinai offers non-dialysis medical options. These options are less trying for patients with kidney disease who are of advanced age. Our approach to treating advanced kidney disease as you age addresses your overall health and personal needs. Mount Sinai Health System geriatric nephrologists are often able to manage kidney disease without dialysis. We use oral medications to treat related conditions, such as anemia, excess acid in body fluids, and excess fluid in the body.
Palliative care when it is time
When you need it, we use palliative care to keep you comfortable. Medications can relieve symptoms. And we help adjust your care as your needs change. Mount Sinai's geriatric kidney specialists offer a highly personalized palliative care approach to kidney treatment. We help you make each important life decision as you age. We support open communication and shared decision making with you and your family.
Our palliative approach includes:
- Active medical treatment that addresses kidney disease complications
- Advance care planning that incorporates your goals, values, and preferences into your current medical plan and helps you prepare for the future
- Coordinated services that support both you and your family in practical ways throughout your care
- Hospice referral when survival is estimated at less than six months
- Symptom relief with prescriptions and lifestyle adjustments to help you feel comfortable
We provide flexible medical care and personal support, and we do all we can to ensure that you live as comfortably and as fully as possible.