In Human body, Kidney plays a vital role. It filters the entire blood present in our body, removing the excess salt and urea deposits in our blood. Kidney failure is observed mainly in people with high Blood pressure. If one kidney gets failed, we can easily cope with a single kidney. The main problem arises when our both kidneys stop functioning. Renal (Kidney) failure is of two types - Acute Kidney Disease (AKD) and Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Acute Kidney Disease can be temporary and can be reverted with proper treatment. But, CKD is a permanent problem. The kidney functioning in our Human body can be checked by testing our creatinine levels in our body. If our Creatinine levels are less than 1milligram per deciliter, then we are safe and our kidneys are functioning properly. Higher the levels, more the risk. If the creatinine levels cross 6 or 7, it indicates that our kidneys has stopped functioning. High creatinine in blood, shows that water and waste in their body are retained. Kidneys filter the blood and removes the wastes in the form of urine. People with kidney failure have swollen face, swollen legs and dizzy body. They feel very uncomfortable. The excess water should be removed, else it comes toxic to the life. They have to depend on external support for removing the excess water. They should opt for Dialysis or Kidney Transplantation. People with high creatinine levels should take less water, around only one liter per day or even less. This is because, the water we take gets mixed with the blood and the kidneys should filter the blood and remove the wastes and excess salts in the form of urine. If we drink more water, kidneys cannot filter that much amount of blood as they are not functioning properly. Patients should also reduce salt intake, as excess salt in the body gets deposited in blood in the form of blood urea, which is toxic to life.
Let's now move to Dialysis. When our kidneys stop functioning, we rely on external support for removing the wastes accumulated in our body. Dialysis is made into ways - Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis.
In Hemodialysis, the Dialysis machine does the duty of our kidney. The patient should undergo a fistula procedure in order to carry on dialysis. The blood is pumped to the machine, which in turn filters the blood and the filtered blood is pumped to our body. The entire procedure takes about 4 to 5 hours of time. After each Dialysis, the machine should be cleaned. This is done at hospitals, the patient alone cannot do this by himself.
In Peritoneal Dialysis, the dialysis is carried out in the peritoneal layer. The peritoneal liquid is sent into the body, this liquid absorbs all the wastes and excess salts and then the peritoneal liquid is removed from the body. In this process, hygiene is more important, as our peritoneal layer is very sensitive and more liable to bacterial infection. Peritoneal Dialysis can be done at home by the patient himself without any support.
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