Facts About Kidney Failure

Are you about to undergo a dialysis treatment? Does your loved one need to be dependent on a dialysis machine? Do you want to know about this type of treatment?

We know you want to know facts about dialysis. But before we dig deep into the details, let us first explore what dialysis does and how it can affect the patients needing such treatment.

Our kidney exists inside our body for a reason. In fact, a healthy kidney can and is responsible for:

• Regulating the fluid levels of our body
• Filtering toxins and wastes from our blood
• Releasing erythropoietin (a hormone responsible for responding to low oxygen levels in our tissues)
• Stimulating erythropoiesis (or the creation of red blood cells in our bone marrow)
• Regulating blood pressure
• Activating vitamin D (for the maintenance of a healthy set of bones)
• Balancing blood minerals such as:

• Sodium
• Phosphorus
• Potassium

These bean-shaped organs are programmed to filter all the blood in our body and remove wastes and excess fluids. Although all human beings have 2 kidneys, it is possible to live with just one.

Now that you have learned the use of your kidneys, imagine if you do not have these organs. The lack of kidneys can bring about failure in the filtering of the filth in one’s blood, resulting to poisoning. Sadly, there are people out there who are suffering from the poison produced by their own system due to the lack of a filtration system.

Kidney diseases are those diseases that involve the damage of one’s kidney. This damage can encompass the reduction of the functions of the said organ. Medical practitioners also call this disease “kidney failure,” “renal disease,” “renal failure” or “renal insufficiency”.

The following are some facts about the said illness:

• For every 3 Americans, one would eventually be at risk of developing a kidney disease.
• Most of those who have the disease do not even know they have it.
• There are currently 26 million Americans suffering from kidney disease.
• People who are at risk of developing kidney failure are those who:

• Are aged 60 or older
• Are diabetic
• Are obese
• Develop kidney stones
• Have a family history of the said disease
• Have cardiovascular disease
• Have high blood pressure
• Smoke

• The 9th leading cause of death among the US populace is kidney disease.
• Kidney disease is more deadly than prostate or breast cancer.
• If a person’s kidneys fall, they should either undergo a kidney transplant or a dialysis treatment.

Those are extremely scary and alarming facts. Oftentimes, a kidney disease shows no symptoms, and one cannot tell if he or she has the said illness unless it has become advanced. As early as now, you need to go and see a physician to prevent this disease from destroying your life.

Once detected early, you can prevent this kidney failure from developing in your system. This can save you from expenses and pain for the rest of your life.

Even if dialysis treatment concerns you or not, it is important that you have a background on what this is and how it can affect the life of a patient with kidney failure. We all need to care for our bodies, including our kidney. But some of us cannot prevent the inevitable demise of our filtering organs.

Undergoing dialysis treatment is a pain not only for yourself but also for your family. Being under the treatment requires you to rely on family members to take you to and fro the hospital. But who says you have to disturb your family’s peace just to obtain your treatment?

Wisdom Care Transportation provides Medical Transportation and one of our services is taking a dialysis patient to his or her appointment. Enjoying such service will not only benefit you but also your family members for they no longer have to take you to hospital yourself for your dialysis appointments.