What Is End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD)?
End-stage renal disease is the final, permanent stage of chronic kidney disease. This illness occurs when kidney function has declined to the point that they no longer function independently.
Those with ESRD must receive dialysis or a kidney transplant to continue living an active lifestyle. There are different types of dialysis that people with ESRD can consider: in-center hemodialysis, home hemodialysis, and peritoneal dialysis.
How Does Hemodialysis Work?
To fully understand how hemodialysis works and why it’s vital for those with ESRD, you must first understand why the kidneys are essential to survival.
The kidneys are biological marvels that:
- Remove excess fluids, waste products, and other toxins from the blood.
- Produce hormones.
- Regulate mineral levels.
- Regulate blood pressure.
- Make Vitamin D.
- Maintain the body’s acid-base balance.
These organs clean the body’s blood about 300 times a day. Excess fluids, waste products, and other toxins can no longer be filtered out when kidneys stop functioning correctly, which causes life-threatening symptoms.
To prevent these symptoms, the blood must be regularly cleaned using dialysis.
How does dialysis work, exactly? Every dialysis patient needs an access site in the hand, wrist, or arm. This allows a nurse or dialysis technician to reach the blood easily.
First, they attach soft tubes from your access site to the dialysis machine. When treatment begins, the dialysis machine pumps your blood through a special filter called a dialyzer. The dialyzer acts as an artificial kidney, filtering metabolic waste and excess fluid and cleansing your blood. It also administers anti-coagulants and monitors your circulation.
While every Innovative Renal Care dialysis patient receives a customized treatment schedule, most patients require three to four weekly treatments, with each taking between three or more hours.