Do you suffer from decreased urine output? Do you experience excessive tiredness? You might be showing symptoms of kidney failure! Kidney failure leads to serious diseases like irregular breathing patterns and heart diseases. Kidney failure can eventually lead to death. Kidney failure can be treated with the help of dialysis. What is dialysis? Read on…
Kidneys help in filtering wastes from the body. Apart from this function kidneys are responsible for blood cell production and bone health.
When kidneys don’t work properly, wastage will build up in the body which will lead to harmful effects on the body.
When the kidneys fail to filter wastes from the body, the doctor will suggest a dialysis.
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a procedure in which wastes and excess water are removed from the blood.
Dialysis is of 2 types. They are:
- Hemodialysis
- Peritoneal dialysis
What is hemodialysis?
Hemodialysis is a procedure wherein blood is filtered using a dialyzer and dialysis machine.
When does a person require hemodialysis?
A doctor will first check the patient’s overall health, kidney function, personal preferences and home situation to decide whether the patient should go for hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.
The doctor will start a hemodialysis when the person experiences symptoms of kidney failure. The symptoms of kidney failure are:
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Excessive tiredness
- Increased levels of potassium in the blood
- Swelling
- Increased levels of acid in the blood
A doctor will suggest a hemodialysis in people who suffered from acute kidney failure.
What is peritoneal dialysis?
Peritoneal dialysis is a procedure to clear wastes from the body with the help of blood vessels present in the abdominal lining.
When would a doctor recommend a peritoneal dialysis?
A doctor will first check the patient’s overall health, kidney function, personal preferences and home situation to decide whether the patient should go for hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis.
A doctor will suggest a peritoneal dialysis during the following conditions:
- Hemodialysis is not suitable for the patient
- Hemodialysis is affecting the patient’s daily activities
What are the advantages of peritoneal dialysis?
The advantages of peritoneal dialysis are as follows:
- Doesn’t involve needles
- Can be performed at home
- Patient can carry on daily activities
- Less dependence on blood pressure medicine
- Less problems with anemia
What happens if you ignore dialysis?
When a person doesn’t receive dialysis, he might reach stage 5 of chronic kidney disease. At this stage, toxins build up in the body.
When the toxins build up in the body, the person will suffer from physical and emotional changes. The condition of the person will worsen slowly. The patient will suffer from the following problems:
- Fluid overload
- Loss of appetite
- Excessive sleepiness
- Hallucinations
- Confusion
- Failure in recognizing familiar faces
- Irregular breathing patterns
- Congestion
- Variations in the skin colour and temperature
If you ignore the symptoms of kidney failure, it might lead to death. For more information on kidneys diseases, Consult nephrologists online at eVaidya now!
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