Dialysis, haemodialysis, home dialysis, kidney failure

Dialysis, kidney failure Home

Home

Bookmark this page

Diabetes is a very common chronic disease in India, and it can cause damage to the kidneys. Every year, more than 300,000 people in India develop kidney diseases due to diabetes and other ailments, and their kidneys are unable to remove waste from the blood . These patients need to undergo dialysis.

The kidneys contain millions of blood vessels, which filter waste from the blood. This waste is passed out through urine. When the kidneys stop function properly, the level of toxins in the blood increases which affects the health of the patient. Dialysis is performed to get rid of the toxins in such patients. There are two types of dialysis - haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Peritoneal dialysis can be done at home by the patient, but requires some training and a clean environment. Haemodialysis is the widely used treatment method in India.

In haemodialysis, the artificial kidney or dialyser acts as a filter, removing the waste and extra fluid from the blood. The blood passes through a plastic tubing to the dialyser. The dialyser has a membrane and contains a dialysis solution. The dialysis solution has salts with the same chemical composition as those contained in the blood. When blood containing waste products passes on one side of the membrane, the toxins diffuse into the dialysis solution.

The toxins are discarded and the purified blood is pumped back into the body.

Dialysis is usually carried out in hospitals or nursing homes by trained technicians. The patient who is may be accompanied by a family member has to travel to a hospital or nearest dialysis centre. The settings of the dialysis machine are chosen to control the pressure, amount of fluid removed, temperature and treatment time for the patient. Usually a dialysis session takes 3-5 hours.

Since traveling is inconvenient, some patients prefer to have a dialysis machine installed in their home. There is no risk of cross infection in such cases and a technician can assist in dialysis. An imported dialysis machine costs about Rs 5.5 lakh (about US$10,000)

There are some organizations which offer home dialysis. A portable dialysis machine, with a water treatment plant is transported to the patients home in an ambulance. A technician performs dialysis at the patient's home. This facility is offered by the Mumbai Kidney Foundation and the Narmada Kidney Foundation in Mumbai and costs about Rs 2,500 (about $60).