Why Do I Need Kidney Dialysis

Kidney dialysis is an important renal replacement therapy which functions as an artificial kidney to replace the functions of the failed kidneys to discharge metabolic wastes and excessive water and electrolyte out of the body so as to purify the blood and rectify disorders and imbalances of water, electrolyte and acid-base in the internal environment.

Usually the doctors will recommend kidney patients to take dialysis early so as to avoid irreversible damages to kidneys and other organs due to excessive accumulation of wastes and toxins. Usually when creatinine clearance rate decreases to 10-12ml/min, dialysis will be recommended.

Under normal circumstances, the kidneys have the functions of clearing metabolic wastes and toxins out of the body and in case of kidney diseases, these wasteful products can not be discharged and there will be increase of serum creatinine, urea nitrogen and uric acid, etc. On one hand, they are indicators of kidney damages and declined kidney functions; on the other hand, these wastes and toxins will in turn damage and poison kidneys and other tissues and organs which are sometimes life-threatening, that is why dialysis is necessary and sometimes a must for kidney patients especially those on end stage renal failure.

To improve the life quality and recover rate of patients receiving dialysis, they should intake proteins about 1.0-1.2g/kg, calories of 146.3 as well as enough vitamins and trace elements to make up what have been lost in dialysis.

Of cause patients should not rely on dialysis only or they will become dependent on it and can not get rid of it and in the end even the remaining functional renal nephrons will cease work. To make it simple, dialysis is just a machine to discharge metabolic wastes and toxins in the blood and internal environment without any improvement of renal functions. Therefore dialysis should be combined with other more effective treatments to try to improve kidney functions.