From Viborg to Hamburg, through Cologne and all the way to Paris. 1,200 km.
That is how far the patients on the dialysis ward at the Regional Hospital in Viborg cycle.
The activity is called Tour de Dialyse, where a yellow winner's jersey and a polka-dot mountain jersey are at stake.
"It's great fun that we have a competition – it brings something new. I like that," says Erik Sørensen, who is on dialysis three times a week at the regional hospital.
>
> It's great fun that we have a competition.
> Erik Sørensen, dialysis patient
And it is not just for the sake of something new that the ward has organised Tour de Dialyse.
"During the dialysis itself, we can see that there is more blood flow. This makes it easier to capture the waste products that need to be filtered out. It also leads to a more stable blood pressure," says nurse Inge Hekker Olsen.
© Ritzau Scanpix
----------------
What is dialysis?
----------------
Dialysis is a method of cleansing the blood of waste products that are normally excreted through the kidneys. Replacement of kidney function by dialysis is usually necessary when kidney function has fallen to about 10–15% of normal.
There are two different types of dialysis called haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. In haemodialysis, the blood is cleansed by passing through a filter in a dialysis machine, after which the blood is returned to the body.
In peritoneal dialysis, the blood is cleansed by dialysis fluid being introduced into the abdominal cavity. The peritoneum acts as a dialysis filter, and the dialysis fluid absorbs the waste products, which are then removed.
Kidney failure can be both acute and chronic, and can have many causes.
*Source: Danish Cancer Society*
------------------------------
Some pedal away for four hours
------------------------------
Tour de Dialyse started on the same day as the Tour de France and ends on the same day.
In advance, the ward had planned 1,200 km for the patients, which is the distance from Viborg to Paris. They have already reached that. But the ward continues cycling.
"We also have to get home from Paris," says Erik Sørensen.
That effort has surprised nurse Inge Hekker Olsen, who has included all the patients along the way by adjusting the resistance on the bed cycle according to each patient's needs and abilities.
"Everything is very individual. Some cycle for four hours, others for a quarter of an hour or twenty minutes – so we adapt to what they feel they can manage during their dialysis."
Warning: This article was translated by a Large Language Model, in case of doubt, you can always visit the original source.