Chronic Kidney Disease

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inserted into the patient’s abdomen. The catheter is used to fill the abdominal cavity with liquid dialysate. Waste products and excess fluids move from the patients’ bloodstream into the dialysate solution. After waiting 6 to 24 hours, the waste filled dialysate is drained from the abdomen, and replaced with clean dialysate”. (“Treatments”).

The only other option for an extend life expectancy for someone suffering from chronic kidney disease is a kidney transplant weather it’s from a live donor or cadaver. kidney patients are placed on a waiting list. According to The Kidney Foundation “1 in 13 people decease while waiting for a Kidney on the Active Transplant list” (“Kidney Foundation”1). “Donor organs are matched to waiting recipients by a national computer registry called the National Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN). This computer registry is operated by an organization known as the United Network for Organ Sharing, which is located in Richmond, Virginia” (“Organ Donation and Transplantation Statistics”).

There is a better quality of life even through the transplant is a major surgery

with along recovery period, it can, in comparison to dialysis, offer you the opportunity for a longer life. “Most patients that have been on dialysis then had a transplant said they had more energy, a less restricted diet and fewer complications then if they had stayed on dialysis. Transplant patients are more likely to return to work after their transplant than dialysis patients” (Benefits of Transplants Vs Dialysis”).

Another, thing to mention is that there are many harmful effects that can happen to a person suffering from chronic kidney disease if left untreated or the person does not receive

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dialysis. Most that patients that are prescribed dialysis forget or don’t understand that a normal person’s kidney is working 24 hours a day, and is very important that they do not miss or skip a treatment. According to Linda Walck & Nancy Foley “there are many different health problems that can occur when someone with chronic kidney disease misses’ dialysis, from fluid overload to permanent damage to your system” (“Linda Walck and Nancy Foley”). These affect the quality of life and life expectancy of a person suffering from chronic kidney disease.

Life expectancy for a dialysis patient with Chronic kidney failure depends on their age and other medical problem’s present. “There has no exact answer to the life expectancy for a dialysis patient. Older kidney failure patients with more health problems have less time remaining. If dialysis patients are between age 45-54 years, the average five-year survival is 70%; if between 65-74 years, it is 30% and fewer than 20 of 100 people over 75 years old will live five years” (“The Life Expectancy”).

In conclusion, it appears that dialysis is the only option for a better quality of life for someone suffering from Chronic Kidney disease. A kidney transplant is the best option but there is a limed number of kidneys and many different requirements to receive one. If a person suffering from Chronic Kidney disease does not receive their dialysis treatments the results will affect their health and life expectancy. With these factors and considerations, Dialysis does increase the quality of life of someone suffering from Chronic Kidney Disease. One could argue the what exactly the quality of life is and sometimes people suffering from chronic kidney disease stop their treatments and enter hospice for reasons of their own.