Kidney Failure

• Kidney failure is when your kidneys stop working - this means waste products (urea, excess water, excess ions) build up which can be harmful to the body and eventually result in death
• If the kidneys fail, the levels of water, ions and urea need to be adjusted using a machine - this is called kidney dialysis
• • Kidney dialysis is the use of a machine to carry out the function of kidneys
  • Blood moves between partially permeable membranes surrounded by dialysis fluid (containing the same concentration of glucose and ions as filtered blood - but no urea, creating a large concentration gradient for urea to diffuse into the dialysis fluid)
  • Useful ions and glucose aren't lost from the blood but urea, excess ions and water diffuse across the membrane
  • As a result, only excess and waste (urea) molecules are lost from the blood, and glucose and ions remain - the filtered blood flows back into the patient's arm

  
• • Kidney Dialysis Disadvantages
  • It has to be done many times a week, with the process itself taking three to four hours
  • It acts as an artificial kidney and keeps people alive while they wait for a kidney transplant
  • There's a possibility of blood clots forming
  • You have to follow a strict and controlled diet so they don't produce too much urea
  • It is an unpleasant experience, causing mental health problems
  • The build up of waste products between sessions can leave you feeling ill
• • In a kidney transplant, the diseased kidney is replaced with a healthy kidney from a donor
  • Disadvantages
  • The donated kidney may be rejected by the patient's immune system
  • Major surgical process creates risks for both the donor and the receiver
  • Immunosuppressant drugs must be taken for life after the surgery to stop the body from rejecting the new kidney
  • Not all transplants are successful which requires a new kidney to be found
• Dialysis/Transplant Evaluation

  • There is no shortage of dialysis machines however there is a shortage of kidney donors
  • With dialysis, patients require frequent treatments and a controlled diet whereas with a transplant, the patients can live a normal life
  • Kidney dialysis is expensive and requires long term treatment, in contrast to a transplant where it is only expensive initially
  • Kidney transplant receivers need to take immunosuppressant drugs for the rest of their life