I feel like it would clear the waste and everything else so why do people still die even if the dialysis is taking over the function of the kidneys or anything else?
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My husband is on dialysis as a 24 year old. One of the big issues is it puts some strain on the heart, it isn’t as effective as kidneys with filtering toxins and there is risk for infection. Plus, it’s so time consuming and you have to watch what you eat and drink as well as being careful with medications. It’s just safer and easier to your mental health to do dialysis the shortest amount of time you need to.
Ah, nothing like hooking yourself up to a machine daily for 4-6 hours to clean your blood *a little* without really cleaning it completely. Eventually it all takes a toll. The kidney is an amazing organ. Take care of yours!
Don’t you run out of veins eventually? The same way drug addicts will end up injecting things into their hands and feet, you can only use veins a certain number of times.
The kidneys aren’t just filters. That’s a gross oversimplification. They are part of this complex feedback loop involving your brain, a bunch of glands, and other organs.
The easy way to look at is if you have too much or too little of something they tell your body how to react. Too much sodium can rob liquid from your cells due to osmosis. Too little and your nervous system stops working correctly. So they have to balance how much fluid is in your body with these salts. That’s just one job. They also have to help regulate other chemicals.
So just filtering is a stopgap at best. You are removing stuff from the blood that can become a problem and you can compensate for some of the rest with medications or supplements. But, part of the regulation system of the body is now gone. Dialysis is slowing the process of deteriorating functions. Not replacing.
I am a dialysis nurse. They can. There are variations on the duration of “rest of”. I’ve seen months to decades. Dialysis only takes care of certain things- acid/base balance, electrolytes correction, and removing fluid that would have been urine in a working kidney person.
Kidney failure typically comes from high BP, diabetes, and the remaining causes are prevalent, but a much smaller amt. Usually these people have MANY other problems: mineral disorders, vitamin D dysregulation, high BP continues. A person has to restrict their fluid intake ALL OF THE TIME along with a restricted diet. It is a difficult life not to mention 3 days a week having to spend 3-4 hrs of dialysis that kinda wrecks the rest of the day with fatigue. Dialysis pulls off fluid quickly and corrects waste products quickly, which puts strain on the body. Kidneys are doing that 24 hrs a day so there’s no spikes or drops.
Overall, those on dialysis will have a shorter life, all other things held equal, somewhere around 5 years, aggregate. A transplant is far superior. Dialysis is a stop-gap to prevent dying – it works yet it is a brutal life, invading all aspects of what one does. Often, they can’t work because of the schedule and other problems.
The kidneys do a lot – synthesis of active vitamin D, major BP regulation, waste excretion, water balance, electrolyte balance, and not having these affect other systems in the body, significantly. Again, they can stay on dialysis for “the rest” of their lives, but it really takes it toll on them.
A few reasons.
Firstly, they absolutely will live for the rest of their life. Guaranteed.
Second, there is usually a disease process in the background that caused the renal failure, and the disease is not confined only to the kidneys. This is not cured, but only partially controlled, by dialysis.
Third, the arteriovenous shunts (access ports) can eventually fail, and there are only so many times and places they can be made.
Fourth, as others have said, it is an incomplete and episodic treatment, as opposed to normal renal clearance which is continuous.
Vaguely (eli5) imagine a pool cleaner or fish tank cleaner). Running non-stop at a low level (excluding issues of power consumption) is a more effective way of maintaining clean water. Dialysis is like running the pool cleaner 4 hours, 3 times a week at full speed and having to add chemicals because it is always starting to turn green by the time it is due for a clean.
they can, but it will shorten their expected life, not to mention that dialysis is rough on the patients receiving it, the dialysis diet is super restrictive and annoying. It’s a temporary procedure to keep patients alive until transplants are ready
They can, they do, People get into trouble when their heart is not strong enough for dialysis
My aunt was on dialysis for ten years. She had lupus which is what destroyed her kidneys. She went being able to go to dialysis every other day to every day, eventually ending up bedridden at home with overnight dialysis. It wears a person down. I mean, imagine having the flu and your body has to flush that out. This is flushing the system daily. I was there at the house the morning she passed; and although I cried, I checked her pupils to be sure, and her eyes were so clear and painless finally. I was sorry to lose her, but we were glad she went. Medical miracles kept her alive, but when she’s had enough, she’d had enough and went off dialysis because she was simply tired. Thank you, minnesotaris, for such informative dialogue here. Dialysis is a fantastic invention, but it buys time and doesn’t cure anybody, folks. (And because her lupus would have destroyed a new, viable kidney, she lied to all of us and told us the doctor said she was not a candidate for a kidney.) She was quite a selfless lady!
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