What is Dialysis and When to Start Dialysis

Dialysis is an important substitutive therapy for patients with Kidney Disease. It replaces the original kidneys to help patients remove the extra water and wastes from their blood so it is also called artificial kidneys. Dialysis just has the clean function, but can not improve renal function at all. Therefore, with the progression of Renal Failure, their renal function will decline further. As dialysis can affect the patients’ routine life seriously and also can cause a series of complications, many patients do not want to begin dialysis at all. When to start dialysis becomes an important issue for patients with Kidney Disease.

In the early stage of Kidney Disease, the patients do not need dialysis. However, if their kidneys fail, they have to need dialysis to prolong their life. In fact, there is no a specific standard for the patients when to dialysis. Generally speaking, the patients are recommended to start dialysis when their renal function drops to 15% or less. However, if the patients have serious complications that have threaten their lives such as vomit, skin itching, muscle cramps, shortness of breath and so on, they may start dialysis earlier. When to start dialysis is up to by a series of comprehensive factors. Their doctors can help them decide when they should start dialysis based on their lab tests measuring their residual kidney function and on their symptoms.

If the patients do not have obvious symptoms, they may be able to dialysis a little late. However, some doctors advocate early dialysis for it takes a long time to recover if their disease has become very serious. Especially for those with Diabetes, they should begin dialysis earlier than those with other kinds of Kidney Diseases.

As dialysis just has clean function, but does not have repairing the damaged kidneys, the patients can not improve their renal function at all. For the patients with Kidney Disease, what they should firstly do is to choose an effective treatment to repair their damaged kidneys, but should not simply give their life opportunity to a dialysis machine.


If you are hesitate when to start dialysis, you can consult us on line or email to kidney-treatment@hotmail.com. Maybe our endeavor can help you avoid undergoing dialysis.