| By :
Mark Etinger
Kidney dialysis treatment is a lifesaving procedure required by millions of people worldwide, every year. It can keep people with renal failure and other kidney problems alive and functional. Dialysis can be an important part of rehabilitation after kidney disease or loss.
Kidney dialysis was first invented in German occupied Holland in 1943. The first dialyzer was made of homemade scrap parts because of war rationing. It was not successfully used until 1945 on a 67 year-old woman in a uremic coma. After 11 days on dialysis she woke up and lived for 7 more years before succumbing to a non-kidney related issue. The kidneys play an important role in maintaining the blood health of the body. The kidneys maintain the blood's delicate balance of salt, water and minerals. It also produces a number of important hormones. A healthy diet is an important part of keeping your kidneys healthy. Drinking lots of water ensures that your blood doesn't have too high a concentration of salt and other minerals. This will prevent your kidneys from working too hard. You should also avoid unhealthy and processed foods. Many of the harmful chemicals in processed foods end up in your blood. When your blood passes through your kidneys the kidneys take on these harmful chemicals. Early signs you're not taking care of you kidneys can include chronic kidney stones, chronic kidney infections, and water retention around your kidneys. There are two main types of kidney dialysis treatment. Hemodialysis is the more common of the two. This is when the patient sits and has his blood flow through a dialyzer. The dialyzer is essentially a large, mechanized, external kidney. It passes the blood through a filter to get the toxins that your kidney would remove out. It then takes the clean blood and pumps it back into your system. Dialyzers are found at hospitals, nursing homes, specialized kidney clinics, and short-term rehab centers. Peritoneal dialysis is done by filling the abdominal cavity with a sterile solution. This solution filters via osmosis and is then drained from the abdominal cavity. Although peritoneal dialysis can be done at home or even on the go, hemodialysis is generally thought to more effective. Some people use peritoneal dialysis as a stopgap measure if they are unable to reach their local nursing home or short term rehab center for hemodialysis. Hemodiafiltration is a mix of both forms of dialysis. It is usually only done when the health of a patient's blood is very bad.
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