Kidneys are one of the crucial organs of the body that help filter waste from the blood and maintain fluid levels in your body, just imagine what will happen to your body if such organs cease their function. You will be facing numerous serious health issues. This is when dialysis comes into the frame to help people disturbed with kidney problems, even though we can say that dialysis is a life-saving treatment. However, you will need clarification on how long you should continue with this treatment or should stop the treatment in between, read on to get answers to all your questions.
What does the kidney do?
As all we know, kidneys are bean-shaped organs, under your ribcage, this vital organ is seated. Typically, people have two healthy kidneys, but they can live a normal life with only one kidney until it works under proper conditions. Usually, our kidneys perform several important functions, one of the most important functions among them is eliminating toxins. After the filtration of waste products from your blood, the kidneys will eliminate them in urine.
When your kidney ceases its function, these waste particles will start to accumulate in your body. If this happens, often you will fall ill, and it will lead to serious health issues, then you should visit a kidney hospital in Coimbatore. Luckily, there are treatments like dialysis to save people with kidney failure.
What is kidney failure?
Kidney failure is nothing but either one or both of your kidneys no longer functioning on its own. At times kidney failures are temporary and grow very fast, in contrast, a few people will have persistent conditions that develop gradually. One of the severe stages of kidney disease is kidney failure, if it is not treated well it can also lead to life-threatening conditions. Even people who are getting treatment for kidney failure are surviving more than compared with those who are not getting treatment. Also, anyone can be affected by kidney failure, but people with the following conditions are more prone to it,
- Diabetes
- Hypertension
- Heart disease
- Family history of kidney disease
- Irregular kidney structure
- Above the age of 60
- Having consumed pain relievers for a long time
Also, you don’t need to panic about this condition, there are a lot of people living with kidney disease and also some have completely recovered from this condition and are living a normal life.
What happens when kidney failure starts?
Simply, your eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) is used to calculate how well your kidneys filter substances. You have normal eGFR if it is above 100, likewise, the least eGFR is 0, that is there is no remaining kidney function. The stages of kidney disease include,
- Stage 1: In this stage, your GFR will be higher than 90 but will be below 100 when your kidneys will function normally but have mild damage.
- Stage 2: In this stage, your GFR may be less than 60 or more than 89, when compared to the previous stage you will have more damage in this condition, even though your kidneys function well.
- Stage 3: In this stage, your GFR will be less than 30 but more than 59, and you will have mild to severe loss of kidney function.
- Stage 4: In this stage, your GFR will be less than 15 or higher than 29, when you will experience severe loss of kidney function.
- Stage 5: In this stage, your GFR will be less than 15, when your kidney is nearing kidney failure.
What are the symptoms and causes of kidney failure?
Symptoms:
In the initial stage of kidney failure, there are no symptoms or mild symptoms. Even chronic kidney disease (CKD) will cause mild damage, even then you will not feel any pain. Kidney failure and CKD symptoms will differ from person to person. If your kidneys are affected, you will experience the below-mentioned symptoms:
- Fatigue
- Vomiting
- Trouble concentrating
- Swelling in hands, face, and ankles
- Frequent urination
- Cramps
- Dry itchy skin
- Poor appetite
Causes:
Diabetes and hypertension are the most common causes of chronic renal disease and kidney failure. Simply, uncontrolled diabetes can lead to high blood sugar levels. Persistent high blood sugar can affect your kidneys and other organs as well. In hypertension, blood travels forcefully through your body’s blood vessels. When overlooked, or you are not treating this condition, the extra force can damage your kidney’s tissue. There may be numerous causes for your kidney failure, and it can also occur very fast. When your kidney loses its function too fast, we call this condition acute kidney failure. AKD can be developed within days but only last for short periods.
Further, the common causes of kidney failure include:
- Dehydration
- Urinary tract obstruction
- Autoimmune kidney disease
- Certain medications
- Heart or liver disease
Also, kidney disease is not contagious, but also you cannot spread conditions that cause CKD to another person.
How to prevent kidney failure?
Both kidney failure and dialysis are tough to reverse, so you can take proactive steps to help preserve your kidney function. Simply, healthy habits will help to slow down how rapidly your kidneys lose their ability to function. If you have kidney failure, it is a good idea to:
- Closely observe your kidney function
- Maintain your blood sugar levels if you have diabetes
- Maintain your blood pressure levels
- Quit smoking
- Limit foods rich in protein and sodium
- Do frequent screening
How to manage and treat kidney failure?
Simply, the treatment will be given based on the cause and extent of the issue. Simply, the treatment will be given to slow down the progression of kidney disease. Whenever your kidney stops working, your doctor will use certain methods to diagnose your health condition and balance kidney function as long as possible. Dialysis is one of the best ways to treat kidney failure. Further, let’s know about dialysis in detail.
What is dialysis?
Dialysis is a medical procedure often performed to do the work that your kidney does. Simply, dialysis helps clean your blood when your kidney fails to do that, it removes waste products, unwanted toxins, and fluids from your body by filtering your blood, the same as your kidney does. When there is no regular filtration of waste, and toxins excess fluid will accumulate in your blood, which results in significant health issues.
There are 2 types of dialysis, namely, hemodialysis (HD) and peritoneal dialysis (PD). While in hemodialysis, an artificial kidney machine will be used to filter your blood, and they are easily available in centers. In peritoneal dialysis, the lining of your inner abdomen that is your peritoneum will be used to filter your blood using a fluid known as dialysate and this can be done from home.
Is dialysis temporary?
Most people will do dialysis for kidney failure for a long period, also, this dialysis can be temporary only when your kidney suddenly loses its ability to clean or filter your blood. In such cases, doctors will recommend dialysis only for a short time till your kidneys’ function revamps. Some situations that may cause AKI and call for temporary dialysis include:
- Less blood flow to the kidneys due to heart failure, heart attack, or heart issues.
- Direct damage to your kidneys caused due to physical injury or toxic medication.
- Kidney stones or cancers will block your ureters, so that waste cannot leave your body through urine.
In such cases, visiting the physician will monitor kidney function and will find when it is better to stop the treatment.
Dialysis for chronic kidney disease:
As of now, there is no appropriate treatment to reverse kidney damage, thus individuals with kidney failure need frequent dialysis to replace kidney function. There is one alternative to dialysis, which is kidney transplantation. When dialysis is not working for you, or you don’t need longer to continue dialysis, you can prefer doing kidney transplantation. Just discuss with the nephrology specialist in Coimbatore and the kidney care team only if you are interested in transplantation. When individuals with ESRD start doing dialysis, they need to do it for a lifetime. Luckily, there are a lot of advancements in dialysis technology like home therapies, so there are more ways than ever to dialyze in a way that suits your lifestyle. Also, you can normally live your life by working, traveling, and thriving.
Can you get better after dialysis?
Unlike other treatments, in dialysis, we cannot state that at this point you will be completely cured. The kidney recovery post-dialysis is based on various factors like the cause of your kidney failure, the duration and effectiveness of dialysis treatment, and individual health factors.
1) Underlying cause of kidney failure: The cause of your kidney failure is a temporary condition like severe injury or infection, there may be the possibility of moderate or complete recovery of kidney function post-dialysis. When the root cause is cured by the treatment, the kidney may regain some or all its functions with time.
2) Duration and effectiveness of dialysis: Consistent or effective dialysis treatment plays a crucial role in managing kidney failure. Regular dialysis assists in balancing your electrolytes and managing fluid levels in the body. If the dialysis is performed longer and more consistently, there are great chances for stabilizing your condition and allowing for some recovery of kidney function.
3) Individual health factors: Simply, the response to dialysis and kidney recovery after dialysis can greatly vary from person to person based on their overall health, age, overlapping medical condition, and following your prescribed medications. Further, other factors like nutritional status, medication compliance, and lifestyle modifications also affect kidney health and recovery.
Can a person live a normal life after dialysis?
With kidney failure, most of the individuals are supposed to do dialysis for sustaining, but this is not a cure. In a few cases, individuals prefer kidney transplant surgery for a long-term solution. Kidney transplant helps to live better lives and a chance to regain kidney function without the need for further dialysis.
- Lifestyle and dietary modifications: Your kidneys can go back to normal stage or require dialysis, but opting for a healthy lifestyle and following a healthy diet can highly support kidney health. This includes:
- Balanced diet: Reduce your intake of salt, potassium, and phosphorus when you are trying to take sufficient protein and calorie consumption.
- Consistent exercise: Do regular exercise to promote overall health and manage weight.
- Medication: Correctly follow the prescribed medications as recommended to control blood pressure, manage diabetes, and prevent further damage to the kidneys.
- Frequent screening: Frequent medical check-ups and monitoring of kidney functions are significant in diagnosing any changes in early stages and changing treatments as required.
How long can you live with kidney failure?
Without dialysis or a kidney transplant, kidney failure may lead to death, simply you can live up to a few days to weeks without getting the treatment, also the acute renal failure recovery time is a little high. If you are consistently doing dialysis, you can live up to five to ten years. Even a few people have survived up to 30 years on dialysis. An individual can completely recover from kidney failure with appropriate treatment, but they need treatment for the rest of their life. On the other hand, if you underwent a kidney transplant, if you received a kidney from a living donor you can live up to 12 to 20 years. Also, the life expectancy when you receive a kidney from a deceased donor is 8 to 12 years.
Final thoughts:
In conclusion, we can say that the kidneys can completely recover based on several factors like the cause of kidney failure, effectiveness of dialysis treatment, and individual health considerations. Simply, a few people may partially recover their kidney function, but not everyone can recover completely from this condition. Also, dialysis stands as a significant treatment for managing kidney failure. Likewise, people who choose kidney transplants can live their lives without undergoing dialysis. Just to enhance your overall well-being and potentially improve your outcomes, make some lifestyle changes and follow the medications prescribed by your doctor.
