what is dialysis??

Dialysis is the artificial process of eliminating waste (diffusion) and unwanted water  from the blood. Our kidneys do this naturally. Some people, however, may have failed or damaged kidneys which cannot carry out the function properly - they may need dialysis.

Why is dialysis necessary?

Approximately 1,500 liters of blood are filtered by a healthy person's kidneys each day. We could not live if waste products were not removed from our kidneys. People whose kidneys either do not work properly or not at all experience a buildup of waste in their blood. Without dialysis the amount of waste products in the blood would increase and eventually reach levels that would cause coma and death.

Dialysis is also used to rapidly remove toxins or drugs from the blood. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main types of dialysis - Hemodialysis:

 What is hemodialysis?

The blood circulates outside the body of the patient - it goes through a machine that has special filters. The blood comes out of the patient through a catheter (a flexible tube) that is inserted into the vein. The filters do what the kidney's do; they filter out the waste products from the blood. The filtered blood then returns to the patient via another catheter. The patient is, in effect, connected to a kind of artificial kidney.

 

What are the causes of kidney disease?

•  Thought to cause about half of all cases
• Hypertension(high blood pressure) - thought to cause about one quarter of all cases
•  Inflammation of the kidney
• Malaria
• Long-term exposure to lead, solvents and fuels
•  Body's own immune system attacks the kidneys
• Physical injury, such as a heavy blow to the kidney
• Over consumption of some medications
• Unborn baby does not have normally developing kidneys
• Yellow fever

 source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/152902.php