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THERAPEUTIC OPTIONS |
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Treatment of kidney diseases may involve the following: medical therapy such as medicines and dietary changes, dialysis and transplantation
- Because kidney failure is already irreversible at later stages, treatment focuses on controlling the symptoms, minimizing complications and slowing the progression of the disease.
- Associated diseases that cause or result from chronic renal failure must be controlled. Hypertension, diabetes, congestive heart failure, UTI, kidney stones, obstructions of the urinary tract, glomerulonephritis, and other disorders should be treated appropriately.
- Medications such as iron supplements and erythropoietin injections may be needed to control anemia. Blood transfusion may be given but they are less preferred.
- Fluid intake may be restricted, often to an amount equal to the volume of urine produced. Dietary protein restriction may slow the build-up of wastes in the bloodstream and control associated symptoms such as nausea and vomiting. Salt, potassium, phosphorus and other electrolytes may be restricted.
- Dialysis and kidney transplantation may be required eventually when end stage renal disease ensues or when 85-90 percent of kidney function is lost.
- Hemodialysis uses a special filter called a dialyzer that functions as an artificial kidney to clean the blood. During treatment, blood travels through the tubes into the dialyzer which filters out wastes and extra water. Then the cleaned blood flows through another set of tubes back into the body. The dialyzer is connected to the machine that monitors blood flow and removes wastes from the blood. Hemodialysis is usually performed 2 to 3 times a week. Each treatment last for 4 hours.
- Peritoneal dialysis is another procedure that removes extra water and wastes from the body. This type of dialysis uses the lining of the abdomen to filter the blood. This lining is called the peritoneal membrane and acts as the artificial kidney. A mixture of minerals and sugar dissolved in water called dialysis solution travels through a soft tube into the abdomen. The sugar, called dextrose, draws wastes, chemical and extra water from the tiny blood vessels in the peritoneal membrane into the dialysis solution. After several hours, the used solution is drained from the abdomen through the tube, taking the wastes from the blood with it. Then the patient fills his abdomen with fresh dialysis solution and the cycle is repeated usually 3 to 4 times a day. Each cycle is called an exchange.
- Kidney transplantation surgically places a healthy kidney from another person into the body of the patient with end stage renal disease. The donated kidney does the work that the 2 failed kidneys used to do. It is generally not necessary to remove the diseased kidneys. A donated kidney may come from an anonymous donor who has recently died or from a living person usually relative. The kidney that the patient receives must be a good match for his body. The more the new kidney is like his own, the less likely will his immune system reject it. The patient will be made to take special drugs called immunosuppressives to help trick his immune system so it would not reject the transplanted kidney.
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