What is hemodialysis?
In hemodialysis, a machine expels wastes, salts, and liquid from your blood when your kidneys are no longer functioning. Hemodialysis is one method for treating end-stage kidney disease and can assist you to live more.
With hemodialysis, you need to follow some strict rules. Like taking proper medications, controlling fluid intake, and running some blood tests.
There are two types of kidney disease:
In the case of acute kidney disease, a person may need dialysis for a shorter period of time or sometimes may fall under lifelong dialysis.
In the case of chronic kidney disease, there are five(5) stages from CKD1 to CKD5. People with CKD5 due to chronic renal failure(CRF) need to take dialysis regularly. It is impossible to reverse end-stage CKD. Now the sad part is that you need to take dialysis once, twice, or thrice weekly.
How to know if you are suffering from kidney disease?
If you want to know whether you have chronic kidney disease, you will never know until you reach the end stage. You won't feel any kind of pain in the kidney region. When you enter end-stage you will experience the following symptoms:
1) Body or feet swelling.
2) Blood pressure will rise due to fluid retention. Sometimes vasodilators may not help reduce the pressure due to resistance.
3) If you already have a heart condition like arrhythmias you may face bradycardia(pulse going down) or tachycardia(pulse going up).
4) Loss of appetite, nausea, and vomiting are common symptoms of every kidney disease patient.
5) Shortness of breath due to fluid build-up in the lungs.
6) Prostrate blockage in older men can lead to hydronephrosis, can cause mechanical damage to the kidneys, and may cause complete or partial damage to the kidneys.
When do you need hemodialysis?
After experiencing the above symptoms, you need to run some blood tests like Creatinine, Urea, Sodium, and Potassium. If you are getting into an emergency situation, don't wait for any tests, just rush into the hospital. If your Creatinine level is very high (more than 6.0 mg/dL) and passing very less or no urine then you need dialysis to expel the wastes and fluid. If your creatinine level is greater than 1.0 mg/dL then you are already in CKD stage three(3). After entering into CKD stage four(4) you need minor surgery to build an Arteriovenous Fistula or Graft for dialysis if needed.
Renal Diet
Going on a renal diet is quite difficult at first. Your favorite food might become poison for you. At first, you need to go organic. The organic vegetable will lower the progress of kidney disease. Vegetables with chemical fertilizers or fertilizers will disorder the blood profile, and you may face terrible symptoms. A high-protein diet is necessary for dialysis patients. During hemodialysis, the waste and fluid eliminate along with good nutrients. Water becomes poison for people who passes almost no urine. Few things you need to keep in your mind about renal diet:
1) High Protein(for Dialysis patient) / Low Protein(for non dialysis patient)
5) Water Limitations
6) Avoid saltwater fish (for dialysis patients).
7) Avoid rich meat like beef, pork, lamb or mutton, etc.
8) Eat freshwater fish (must weigh less than 35oz/1KG).
9) Go for quality renal protein supplements.
If you keep these points in your mind, you can easily fight renal disease.