Why kidneys go bad

Hemodialysis: For hemodialysis, a tube catheter is stuck into one of the veins in your neck or leg. Preferably, an access, or arteriovenous fistula, is constructed in the arm.

Hemodialysis is most often done 3 times a week for 3 to 4 hours at a time. Peritoneal dialysis: Peritoneal dialysis is done through a tube permanently set in your belly. Fluid is then run into the abdomen, takes out the extra salt and potassium and water, and then removed. Most adults have dialysis done in an outpatient hemodialysis center. Most children have peritoneal dialysis done at home.

Peritoneal dialysis has a number of advantages and is becoming more frequently used in adults in the US. A kidney transplant is when a surgeon puts a healthier kidney from another person into your body. Kidney transplant is the best way to treat many patients with end stage kidney disease.

Kidneys for transplant come from people who have agreed to donate their kidneys when they die deceased donors or donated by healthy people living donors. Living donors are most often family members of the patient. There is a shorter wait time to surgery for a transplant from a living donor. This is because there is a waiting list for kidneys from deceased donors and not enough donors.

Also, patients with kidneys donated by living donors live longer and the kidneys last longer than those with kidneys from deceased donors or who just stay on dialysis. Elsevier; Accessed July 16, Goldman L, et al. In: Goldman-Cecil Medicine. American Kidney Fund. Accessed May 15, The Merck Manual Professional Edition.

Negi S, et al. Acute kidney injury: Epidemiology, outcomes, complications, and therapeutic strategies. Seminars in Dialysis. Kidney-friendly diet for CKD. You may have some of the following symptoms: nausea trouble sleeping poor appetite weakness tiredness itching weight loss muscle cramps especially in the legs swelling of your feet or ankles anemia a low blood count trouble sleeping Once you begin treatment for kidney failure, your symptoms will improve and you will begin to feel much better.

What treatments are available for kidney failure? Two different types of dialysis can be done — hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis. Both remove waste products and extra fluid from your blood. A kidney transplant is an operation that places a healthy kidney in your body. What is the best treatment for me? Will I need to take medicines or follow a special diet? Click here for more information on nutrition. COVID patients can become kidney patients.

You can provide lifesaving support today with a special monthly gift. Donate Now. Make your lifesaving monthly gift today. When your kidneys fail, it means they have stopped working well enough for you to survive without dialysis or a kidney transplant. In most cases, kidney failure is caused by other health problems that have done permanent damage harm to your kidneys little by little, over time.

When your kidneys are damaged, they may not work as well as they should. If the damage to your kidneys continues to get worse and your kidneys are less and less able to do their job, you have chronic kidney disease. Kidney failure is the last most severe stage of chronic kidney disease. This is why kidney failure is also called end-stage renal disease, or ESRD for short. Diabetes is the most common cause of ESRD. High blood pressure is the second most common cause of ESRD.

Other problems that can cause kidney failure include:. Sometimes the kidneys can stop working very suddenly within two days. This type of kidney failure is called acute kidney injury or acute renal failure. Common causes of acute renal failure include:.