Chronic kidney disease patients have more options for life-saving dialysis with the addition of nocturnal dialysis at several area centers.

For David Harris, who has been on dialysis for almost a dozen years, dialyzing at night has freed up his daytime hours and given him better quality of life.

"I've done four hours a day, three days a week, I've done peritoneal, I've had a transplant," he said. " I don't really care for a transplant any more because of all the pills you have to take and all. So I'd rather be doing this than anything else."

Harris is one of ten patients who report three evenings a week for nocturnal hemodialysis at the New Hope Clinic in Raleigh, which started offering the service in fall 2007. Armed with comforters and pillows - some even in pajamas - they settle in for a little TV, a good night's rest and the lifesaving treatment they need. 

Sandra Cover, R.N., clinical manager of the Fresenius Medical Center of New Hope, says patients on the nocturnal shift tend to feel better than daytime patients. Treatments are longer and slower, which has been proven to be easier on patient's bodies, especially those with heart problems and high blood pressure, common among dialysis patients.

"During the daytime when we're trying to pull as much fluid as we can to cleanse as well as we can, sometimes that is harsh on the body," said Cover. "Our patients are going through symptoms of cramping and adverse effects that our nocturnal patients are just not experiencing."

In just three nights a week, Harris gets 24 hours of dialysis - about twice as much as most daytime dialysis patients get. His wife Betty says the difference in him is like night and day.

"At least by having this at night, the nocturnal dialysis, he's got the whole next day," she said. "It's just more of a life."

Fresenius operates numerous dialysis centers in the Triangle. Additional nocturnal programs are planned for facilities in Cary, Zebulon and Raleigh.

Click here to find a dialysis center near you.