Dialysis Treatment for kidney failure

One of my blog readers asked about dialysis treatments for kidney failure.  What is dialysis? 

Dialysis is a medical treatment which removes the waste products when a person’s kidneys can no longer filter and remove the waste products from the blood.  When a person’s kidneys fail (whether in an acute short-term situation or a chronic, long-term basis), the waste products of the body (salts, wastes and excess fluid) build up.  If not filtered and removed, a dangerous, life-threatening condition called uremia occurs.    Before modern treatments of dialysis and kidney transplants were developed, the person with kidney failure died within a short period of time.

Dialysis treatments do what a person’s kidneys are failing to do:   clean and filter the waste products out of the blood.  Most people who undergo dialysis begin this treatment because their kidneys are failing (approximately 10 to 15% of kidney function or less) and dialysis will be needed indefinitely. 

There are situations where an acute infection or illness causes a person’s kidneys to falter in their work.  In this case, a few dialysis treatments help support the person’s body and remove the waste products until kidney function improves.  This acute treatment dialysis is only for a short time, not an indefinite lifetime routine.  

More information can be found at http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/hemodialysis/MY00281