Kidney failure

• what can patients with kidney failure not do

  cant filter their blood properly
• what does kidney failure lead to

  • not being able to filter blood properly
  • build up of toxic substances in blood
• what machine is used to artificially filter blood

  a dialysis machine
• why does a dialysis have to be done regularly

  • to keep dissolved substances at the right concentration + remove waste
• why is dialysis fluid not removed from the blood

  it has the same concentration of salts + glucose as blood plasma
• during dialysis which substances are not removed from the blood

  not permeable to large molecules like proteins
• what is the barrier in a dialysis machine permeable to

  ions + waste substances
• what stays in the blood after dialysis

  all cells + proteins
• describe what happens to urea when blood passes through the dialysis machine

  • barrier permeable to ions + waste substances
  • so waste substances + excess ions + excess water from blood -> move across membrane -> dialysis fluid
  • all cells + proteins stay in blood
• why is dialysis not considered a cure for kidney failure

  • only works for a limited amount of time
  • doesn't stop kidney from deteriorating further or replace damaged tissue or restore function
• what is the only current cure for kidney disease

  to have a kidney transplant
• what is a kidney transplant

  healthy kidneys are usually transported from someone who has died suddenly + an organ donor
• what are the disadvantages of kidney transplant

  • donor kidney might be rejected by recipient's immune system
• why might a kidney be rejected form the recipient's body

  • immune system detects its foreign
  • tries to attack it with while blood cells
• what 2 precautions can be taken to reduce the risk of kidney transplant rejection

  • a donor with a tissue type closely matched to the patient chosen
  • patient treated with immunosuppressant drugs so immune system doesn't attack the donor kidney
• why is using immunosuppressant drugs not always a good thing

  • has to be taken for a long period of time or even forever
  • weakens immune system