Heparin

[pagandialysis]

........I just found out the heparin they inject into me comes from a pig's intestine....ewwww.....

[boswife]

hahaha,,, of all things to gross ya out..lol

[Sugarlump]

Well I have TPA in my line locks because of clotting...
and this comes from serum from guinea pigs in china! Double Ugh!!!! 

[jbeany]

I can beat that.  Part of the mesh they used to put MY intestines back on the inside where they belong is pig skin!  So I'm mostly me, with a few spare human parts, and bit of pig parts, too.   

[Alex C.]

So, what can you take if you are Jewish, and keep kosher, or a Muslim who stay halal? Are there non-porcine alternatives?

[PatDowns]

So, what can you take if you are Jewish, and keep kosher, or a Muslim who stay halal? Are there non-porcine alternatives?

Beef (bovine) lung heparin used to be available until reports/studies linked its use to a higher incidence of low blood platelet counts.  Plus, beef heparin is more expensive to produce.
In the situations you mention, religious law allows for the use of pork heparin if it is used to help save a life. 

From a previous IHD thread: "For our patients that cant or wont use heparin we pre-treat the dialyzer with 3000u [heparin] during recirculation and ensure to dump all the prime before we hook them up. This way they are recieving NO heparin. Only the dialyzer fibers are being prepared to help prevent clotting. We then give normal saline bolus 50-100ml every 30min when we do vitals to assist in keeping the dialyzer clear...."

http://ihatedialysis.com/forum/index.php?topic=11851.msg202159#msg202159

[gothiclovemonkey]

i asked that same question, i was told there is also a horse alternative...
so i had to ask, is there a vegan option as well???
No... vegans are s.o.l.

[obsidianom]

It beats PREMERIN (synthetic estrogen for hormone replacement), which comes from the URINE of pregnant mares(horses). 
I guess those mares dont have kidney disease. They still put out urine for our use.