FAQ's on Kidney Transplant

Q- How is kidney disease treated?

Ans- Treatments for early kidney disease include both diet and lifestyle changes and medications. Diet and lifestyle changes, such as eating heart healthy foods and exercising regularly to maintain a healthy weight, can help prevent the diseases that cause kidney damage. If you already have diabetes and / or high blood pressure, keeping these conditions under control can keep them causing further damage to your kidneys.

Q- What changes in diet can help with kidney disease?

Ans- Cutting back salt intake can be an important dietary change, since this helps control blood pressure. Also, eat the right amount of protein. Because excess protein makes your kidneys work harder, eating enough, but not too much, protein may help protect your kidneys. Talk to your dietician about how to choose the right combination of protein foods for you.

Q- What is kidney failure?

Ans- When your kidneys fail, they are no longer able to filter blood and remove from your body well enough to maintain health. Kidney failure causes harmful waste and excess fluid to build up in your body. Your blood pressure may rise, and your hands and feel may swell. Since the kidneys are not working well, the goal is to find treatments that can replace kidney function in order to maintain health. There are two main options for this: dialysis and transplantation.

 Q- What are the symptoms of renal failure?

Ans- Most often, kidney failure is a slow, progressive disease. Usually there are no severe tell-tale signs at the beginning stages of the disease. But you may experience:

Frequent trips to the restroom

Loss of appetite

Dry, itchy skin

Swollen feet

Muscle cramps

Q- What is dialysis and how is it used to treat kidney failure?

Ans- Dialysis is a treatment to filter wastes and water from your blood. There are two major forms of dialysis: hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis

In hemodialysis, blood is run through a filter outside of your body and the clean blood is returned to the body. Hemodialysis is usually done at a dialysis center three times a week, but it can also be done at home. Each session usually lasts between three and four hours.

Peritoneal dialysis is another way to remove wastes from your blood. This kind of dialysis uses the lining of your abdominal cavity (the space in your body that holds organs like the stomach, intestines, and liver) to filter your blood. It works by putting a special fluid into your abdomen that absorbs waste products in your blood as it passes through small blood vessels in this lining. This fluid is then drained away. A key benefit of peritoneal dialysis is that it can be done at home, while you sleep.

Q- Is dialysis a cure for kidney failure?

Ans- No. hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis do not cure kidney failure. They are treatments that help replace the function of your kidneys and may help you feel better and live longer

Although patients with kidney failure are now living longer than ever, over the years kidney disease can cause problems such as depression, heart disease, arthritis, nerve damage, and malnutrition. To stay as healthy as possible while on dialysis, follow your dietician’s recommendations, take your medications, and continue to follow the lifestyle habits you adopted to slow the progression of kidney disease.

Q- What is involved in a kidney transplant?

Ans- Instead of dialysis, some people with kidney failure – including older adults – may be able to receive a kidney transplant. This involves having a healthy kidney from another person surgically placed into your body. The new, donated kidney does the work that your two failed kidneys used to do.

Kidney transplantation is a treatment for kidney failure - not a cure. You will need to see your doctor regularly. And you will need to take medications for as long as you have your transplant to suppress your immune system so it doesn’t reject the transplanted kidney.