We tend to forget the importance of our health and neglect it until our body gives us a message that it’s not functioning as it should be. The most important organ in our body is the kidney, the most vital role of the body is performed by the kidneys; they filter blood you receive of around 160 liters of blood every day.
But those systems, as you have witnessed with your loved ones, start to fail, and toxins and too much fluid accumulate in the body. Enter dialysis – an artificial kidney that keeps you alive. Dialysis is only partly a medical therapy. For many, it is a lifeline, an opportunity to live a better life amid a diagnosis of kidney failure. In this article, we are going to look at what exactly dialysis is, what leads to it, causes its symptoms, its effects, treatment for it and much more, so keep reading.
What is Dialysis?
Dialysis is a part of what a normal healthy kidney does. Dialysis enables the body to expunge waste products in the blood, like urea, toxins and extra salt, when the kidneys shut down and can no longer filter said blood. It’s also a regulator of your electrolyte and fluid balance.
What Causes Dialysis?
If the kidneys aren’t doing the job they’re supposed to, also known as end-stage renal disease (ESRD) you need dialysis. This stage can be due to:
Diabetes– Excessive sugar can damage the blood vessels in the kidneys, and if this happens over a period of time, it can cause kidney disease.
High Blood Pressure— The kidneys go the extra mile while in high blood pressure.
Chronic kidney disease(CKD)– A slow loss of kidney function due to which may result from infections, inflammation or genes.
Polycystic Kidney Disease – a disorder that runs in families that forms many cystic (m=means mumps) growth in the kidney.
Acute Kidney Injury— A rapid loss of the ability of the kidneys to filter waste from the blood, which can be a result of dehydration, injury or infections.
Dialysis is not always permanent. And for some people with acute kidney failure, dialysis is necessary only until the kidneys get better.
Symptoms of Dialysis:
Before someone would require dialysis, the body would tell the individual in symptoms that the kidneys are not working the way they should. Common symptoms include:
1.Toxin build-up causing fatigue and weakness.
2.Noticeable swelling in your leg, ankle, and hand because of fluid retention
3.The patient also made negative for dyspnea (troubled breathing), reflecting fluid retention in the lungs.
4. Feeling or being sick and loss of appetite.
5.Urinating often or very little.
6.Confusion, problems with concentration or dizziness.
7.Severe skin itching caused by waste accumulating in the blood. As these symptoms progress and kidney function falls to less than 10–15%, two or three times per week of dialysis is initiated by physicians.
Reason for Dialysis:
The ultimate purpose of dialysis is simply to substitute the function of the kidney to maintain the body in a liveable state. If you didn’t have dialysis, waste products and fluid would build up to deadly levels causing:
Life-threatening imbalance of electrolytes (elevated potassium which can cause heart problems)
-Poisoning in the blood which also results in confusion, seizures and coma.
-Too much liquid: This can cause swelling or issues in the lungs or the heart.
Dialysis’s Effect:
Dialysis has its advantages and disadvantages.
Positive Effect:-
* Eliminates waste and toxins, prevents poisoning of the body.
* Manages fluids to guard against swollen excess.
*Increases energy and mental focus.
* Lengthens the life of kidney failure patients.
Negative Effects:-
* Tiredness after the sessions is typical.
* Infection at the catheter or fistula site.
* Low blood pressure with hemodialysis.
* Cramps, headache or nausea after treatment.
* Being limited in lifestyle, including strict diets and frequent hospital trips.
Dialysis is no cure, but it allows people to remain, albeit in most cases disabled, alive with failing kidneys.
Treatment & Precautions:
Dialysis therapy is about discipline, habit, and lifestyle. Here’s what patients should know:
Treatment Options:
The blood is removed from the body, filtered through a machine (a dialyzer), and then returned to the body.
-Peritoneal Treatment Options:
Hemodialysis: Generally done at a hospital or dialysis centre three times per week (three to five hours each trip).
Peritoneal dialysis: You do this yourself, at home, at night while you sleep
Precaution:
Restrict the diet: Reduce intake of high salt / potassium / phosphate containing food.
Fluid Limitations: Don’t drink a lot of water to help prevent from becoming too full with fluid.
Visiting your doctor: You should take your medications as directed, particularly those that are supposed to lower your blood pressure, anemia and help maintain your bone health.
Infection risk: Prevent infections to avoid getting sicker due to germs at the place where you receive dialysis.
Maintenance: Periodic bloodwork, and monitoring of medical conditions.
Exercise and Relax: Light exercise stimulates circulation, and rest fends off fatigue.
Responding to care and discipline may help prevent the patients from falling, and help them to survive and live better and healthy lives while they are on dialysis.
FAQs:
Q1. Is dialysis a permanent treatment?
Ans. Not always, but it becomes necessary in the case of chronic kidney failure or ESRD dialysis is then a long term or so to say, life long therapy unless kidney transplant could be done.
Q2. How long do people live on dialysis?
Ans: This disease has an average life span of 5-10 years but many could live 20+ years with great care and discipline.
Q3. Will I be completely off dialysis with a new kidney?
Ans: No, Dialysis replaces only some of what the kidney does — largely removing waste and balancing fluid. “There are things kidneys do the best they can, but they aren’t capable of, like making hormones to keep our bones healthy, control our blood pressure.
Q4. Can dialysis patients travel?
Ans: Yes, with proper planning. You can find dialysis centers anywhere; and, you might not believe this— you can even do it at home if you want to keep up the treatment while traveling. Since the disease can at times result in heart and lung issues, people should also seek an OK from their doctors before arranging to fly.
