What Is the Kidney Dialysis?

Kidneys are delicate organs that cannot be repaired once damaged. Once kidney disease or damage is diagnosed, your health care provider can only work to prevent further damage. When your kidney damage is so great that your kidneys cannot do their jobs, your health care provider will often prescribe kidney dialysis to keep your body healthy.

The Kidneys

• Your kidneys are reddish, bean shaped organs that are a part of the urinary system, along with the ureters, the bladder and urethra. Their main function is to filter the waste and excess water from your circulation system, while allowing blood, proteins and nutrients to continue circulating. They then make urine, which is excreted from the body.

Reasons for Dialysis

• Kidneys are very delicate organs and there is no cure for kidney disease or failure. As the garbage men of the body, kidneys take out the trash that accumulates in our blood. Without this process, we cannot live. The waste will build up and the high levels will poison your body, shutting down vital organs one by one. While you can live a healthy life with just one kidney, if both your kidneys are diseased or not working, you must find some other way to filter your blood. Dialysis is the most common option.

Hemodialysis

• There are two types of dialysis. Hemodialyis is the process where the blood is pumped out of the body through a catheter and pumped into a dialysis machine. Inside the dialysis machine, the blood is forced through a series of filters that act in the same way that kidney's filtration system would. Afterwards, the clean blood is sent through another catheter back into your body to begin circulation again. Hemodialysis is usually done in a hospital or clinic setting for three to four hours a week. Your hemodialysis schedule will be prescribed by your health provider based on your level of kidney function.

Peritoneal Dialysis

• The other type of dialysis is called peritoneal dialysis and uses the peritoneum in your abdominal cavity to do the job of the kidneys. The peritoneum is the membrane lining that encases your stomach and liver as well as the intestines and liver. Peritoneal dialysis works by pushing a solution of minerals and glucose from a bag into a catheter that leads to the peritoneum. The solution is left there and the waste products from the blood circulation through the area are absorbed into it. Later, the solution is allowed to drain back into the bag, taking the waste with it.

  This process can be done several times a day manually or may be done using a small machine. Although peritoneal dialysis is not as efficient as hemodialysis, it can be done at home by the patient, giving you more independence. It is also cheaper.

Alternatives to Dialysis

• With the help of medicine, a healthy diet and dialysis, most patients can lead relatively healthy, normal lives. The only alternative to dialysis is to remove the malfunctioning kidneys and replace them with a healthy donor kidney. However, finding people to donate a healthy kidney that is a match in blood type and other areas can be very difficult. Even when a replacement kidney is found and the operation is successful, your body may still reject the transplant. For many kidney patients, dialysis is the only option to staying healthy.