Your kidneys keep you healthy

Your kidneys:
■ Clean the blood of wastes
■ Remove extra fluid (water)
■ Keep your body chemicals in balance: sodium, potassium, calcium and phosphorous
■ Help control blood pressure
■ Help make red blood cells
■ Produce Vitamin D, which helps maintain the health of your bones

Kidney Failure

In some patients the kidneys become damaged and are unable to perform their normal functions. You can have a lot of kidney damage and not even feel ill. That’s why kidney disease is often called a silent disease. It is only when kidney damage is severe that you may feel sick.

In most patients kidney diseases affect both kidneys. When your kidney function is below 15%, you may begin to have symptoms such as feeling tired or weak, or losing your appetite. You will then need some form of treatment to replace some of the functions of a healthy kidney.

Treatment Options

The two treatments used when kidneys fail are dialysis and transplantation.

Dialysis is a treatment performed to remove extra fluid and waste from your body.
Kidney transplantation means getting a new kidney to replace your damaged kidneys.

Both dialysis and transplantation are effective treatments for kidney failure.

If you do nothing, your health will continue to get worse. If left untreated, kidney failure can
lead to death.

What is Hemodialysis? (HD)

During at home hemodialysis, blood is sent from the body to an outside machine (dialyzer) that filters out the waste and extra fluids then returns the blood to the body

Hemodialysis, or HD, cleans the blood by using a special filter called a dialyzer (dye’-uh-lizer). Inside the dialyzer are thousands of hollow fibers as thin as hairs—punctured with millions of tiny holes.

During HD, blood moves through the inside of the dialyzer fibers. Blood cells and proteins that are needed by the body are too big to pass through the holes. They go back to the body. Wastes and extra water go through the holes and into dialysate fluid that is thrown away.

Benefits to Home Dialysis

The ability to dialyze at home can offer considerable lifestyle benefits. For many patients, at home dialysis can provide a level of flexibility not possible at a dialysis center. Whether it's additional time spent working, with family or fulfilling other obligations or interests, at home dialysis allows patients to arrange their treatments around their own schedule. At home dialysis also saves time because there is no need to drive back and forth to a dialysis center three days per week.

Additionally, research has shown that patients who perform some types of at home dialysis may experience better quality of life and better clinical results - especially those who take advantage of their home setting to have more frequent or extended dialysis.

As with any form of dialysis, a patient's nephrologist directs a patient's specific care and treatment. Home dialysis allows doctors to customize the frequency and length of treatment to best meet individual needs.

Kidney disease is serious—but you can live a productive life with it. The good news is that kidney disease can be treated. Today, there are even ways to slow down the rate of damage to your kidneys as well.

Keeping a healthy attitude With the help of a renal dietician, your doctor and medical team, you can improve the way you feel by eating right, getting proper exercise and taking your medications as
prescribed. Your attitude can improve the way you feel, too. Keeping a positive outlook on life can really affect your health.