In medicine, dialysis (from Greek "dialusis", meaning dissolution, "dia", meaning through, and "lysis", meaning loosening) is primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function (renal replacement therapy) due to renal failure. Dialysis may be used for very sick patients who have suddenly but temporarily, lost their kidney function (acute renal failure) or for quite stable patients who have permanently lost their kidney function (stage 5 chronic kidney disease). For patients with stage 5, or End-Stage Kidney Disease (ESKD), the decline in kidney function occurred over a period of months to years until a level was reached at which treatment was needed for survival.

Unlike Acute Renal Failure (ARF) (Acute Kidney Injury (AKI)), Chronic Kidney Failure cannot be cured or reversed and long-term treatments are needed to replace the lost functions of the kidney. The treatment for ESKD that most naturally replaces lost kidney function is a kidney transplant. However, some patients are not good candidates for a transplant due to medical or other reasons, some cannot receive a transplant because of the short supply of donor kidneys, and others simply decide that a transplant is not the best option for them. As a result, most patients with ESKD must rely on dialysis to replace the water and waste removal functions of the healthy kidneys. more click here

People who have chronic kidney disease may not have symptoms of the disease until kidney function has decreased to a very low level. Tests are vital to help determine:

• Whether kidney disease has developed suddenly or as a long-term process (acute renal failure versus chronic kidney disease). Some of the tests used to evaluate acute renal failure may also be used if a person with chronic kidney disease has a sudden drop in kidney function.
• What is causing the kidney damage.
• The best type of treatment to help slow the progression of kidney damage.
• How well treatment is working.
• When to begin dialysis or have a kidney transplant. more click here

How does diabetes cause kidney disease?

When our bodies digest the protein we eat, the process creates waste products. In the kidneys, millions of tiny blood vessels (capillaries) with even tinier holes in them act as filters. As blood flows through the blood vessels, small molecules such as waste products squeeze through the holes. These waste products become part of the urine. Useful substances, such as protein and red blood cells, are too big to pass through the holes in the filter and stay in the blood.

Diabetes can damage this system. High levels of blood sugar make the kidneys filter too much blood. All this extra work is hard on the filters. After many years, they start to leak and useful protein is lost in the urine. Having small amounts of protein in the urine is called microalbuminuria. more click here