#11
Kidney failure effects thousands of people each year. Each day, an average of 8 Canadians learn that their kidneys have failed. Kidney disease ranks sixth among diseases causing death in Canada. This is a pretty scary thought. This condition may not cross people's minds as a big cause of death in Canada. Awareness is one thing that could always help, in case you feel there is something going wrong in your body.
Kidney failure or Renal failure can not be cured. The only way to control it is by dialyzing, or with a kidney transplant. Many people are faced with doing dialysis 3-6 times a week for 4-8 hours each period. While patients are going through dialysis, they are on a waiting list which could take anywhere from 4 to 6 years to even get called in for the actual operation. In the mean time, people are faced with dialyzing to try and make them feel better.
There are two main types of dialysis. The first is Hemodialysis. In simple terms, the blood is pumped out of the body from the neck or arm and is filtered through a machine. It is cleaned and mixed with a solution, and then pumped back into the body. The other is Peritoneal dialysis. A sterile solution is pumped into the abdomen through a catheter which sits there for a period of time. The solution cleans and gathers waste that the kidneys can not. The waste solution is then pumped out of the body, and repeated again.
Both of these techniques in dialyzing can be done each time in the hospital, or at home. The easier method to do at home would be the Peritoneal dialysis, which the machine is a bit simplier, and less complications occur.
Does kidney failure come with age? No. Kidney failure can come at any time. You can have it when you are born, in the middle of your life, or when you get old. You can chose which technique of dialysis is best for your body and your lifestyle.
There are two main causes of kidney failure. Diabetes and High Blood Pressure. Although there are A LOT more causes then this, these are just what specialists have found to be the most common causes.
If you feel that you are at risk of having or developing this disease, contact your doctor immediately. Some symptoms that you may notice of kidney failure are swollen hands and feet, numbness of hands and feet, itchy skin, fatigue, low urine output (or no urine output in severe cases), frequent urination, altered consciousness, loss of appetite, malnutrition, sores , bad taste in the mouth, nausea, vomiting, muscle cramps and twitches, shortness of breath, high blood pressure, low temperature, seizures, coma, breath smelling like urine, and yellowish-brownish skin tone.
Being aware of this disease is very important to everyone everywhere. Being healthy and safe are factors to keeping you away from diseases such as this. Kidney failure is devastating and tough. Support any local charities for this cause, and think about becoming an organ and tissue donor; they need your help.
http://www.kirkhamandjack.ca/downloads/Canadian%20Stats%20-%20Covered%20Conditions.pdf
http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6496146591554711003
http://www.aurorahealthcare.org/yourhealth/healthgate/getcontent.asp?URLhealthgate=%2211729.html%22
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#2
ReplyDeleteThis blog post was very well put together. The introduction paragraph had me interested enough to read the rest and choose this one to comment on. You were very thourough in this piece of information. I liked how you explained the two main types of dialysis in depth.
I had no idea that Kidney failure was such a common disease and cause of death and I'm glad I'm more aware of it now. Some questions I have are:
Are there precautions that one may take to avoid kidney failure? Are there certain things that make it more common like drugs or alcohol?
Very impressive blog post. I can tell you did your research.
#4
ReplyDeleteI agree that if you know of kidney failure in your family and believe you may be at risk you should definitely get tested. Your research looks very accurate and really brings this disease to my awareness. My mom is a nurse and many of her patients have kidney failure. Some of them are currently on dialysis, but many have died. It is really serious, and its too bad that it can’t be cured. You mentioned that transplants can be done and work, but that’s not always the case. Some people can reject the transplanted kidney and that will kill them sooner than the failure would have. Over all this post is very good. Well done!
#13
ReplyDeleteGood job #11!
You had a lot of good information and you covered most of the topic. I have a few questions.
1. What is the success rate for kidney transplants?
2. If someone finds out their kidneys are failing what is the average time that they can survive?
3. What are some of the complications of dialysis?
I liked that you brought in the necessity for people to choose to be organ and tissue donors. I believe it is very important and if you were in that situation you would probably want an organ so you can live longer. I also liked how you talked about the symptoms and that it is important to see a doctor if you suspect a problem with your kidneys.
#19
ReplyDeleteI think your post was very interesting to read and well put together. I never knew that kidney disease was so dangerous and popular in a lot of deaths. I agree that this disease does not cross a lot of people’s minds and fine it scary that the only cure is a transplant which patients must wait on a waiting list for 4 to 6 years. That seems really bizarre and terrifying.
I also like how you extended your research to name and describe the two main types of dialysis that patients go through. This information was very understandable and helped me as a reader to follow through with the process because you were able to cut it down into simple terms instead of throwing everything in at once. It was very helpful that you listed some signs and symptoms as well because usually that is the first question that comes to most readers when reading about diseases or disorders.
Throughout your post, I learned that it doesn’t matter how old you are, your kidneys can fail at anytime throughout your life. Also, that the two main causes of kidney failure are diabetes and high blood pressure.
I really liked how you wrapped up you post with your concluding paragraph stating that it is important to stay healthy and pay attention to any warning signs. Also, how you recommended that people can donate to charities to help those in need.
The only question I have for you is how can kidney failure affect those of older people compared to those of young children? In addition, to improve your research, maybe document on some of the survivors and how it affected them or how the disease hit those who didn’t follow the warning signs as quick as they should have.
This blog was very well written and provided a lot of information that I did not know about kidney failure. It is a very scary thought when you realize that every day 8 Canadians are told that they have kidney failure, and then that they could be waiting 6 years for a transplant! The thoughts that must go through a person’s mind at that time must be that of many. There are probably a million questions running through their head: how is my life going to change? What could I have done differently? What am I supposed to tell my family? How long do I have?
ReplyDeleteI like how this blog was very informative, providing the reader with information about the different types of dialysis available to a person with kidney failure. Although there is not a cure, it is nice to know that there is at least something that you can do with this failure while waiting for a transplant.
This article allows people to understand a little more why it is important to donate your kidneys and organs once you have died. Why let someone else die when you have the ability to help him or her?
On average, how many Canadians a year donate their organs and/or kidneys?