Narration Final

Caitlyn Scott

English 302-N03

Hemodialysis: A Solution for Kidney Failure

Every part of the human body has key impact on the maintenance and survival of the body. Kidneys are no exception to this fact. As Dictionary.com describes them, kidneys are “a pair of bean-shaped organs in the back part of the abdominal cavity that forms and excrete urine, regulate fluid and electrolyte balance, and act as endocrine glands”(Dictionary.com). Kidneys are a critical part of how the human body removes toxins and other harmful substances from the body. Kidneys “receive approximately one-fifth of the blood that is pumped out from the heart every minute”(Patients). In turn, that gives kidneys the foremost responsibility of removing harmful waste products from the blood. That is a serious responsibility for two small bean-shaped organs. Most of the potentially harmful wastes that are found in the blood come from the body “breaking down and metabolizing food, drugs, and contents of dying cells”(Patients). In this day and age, all of the preservatives, harmful drugs and medications that people put into their bodies daily can add up to a big problem if someone’s kidneys were to fail.

Millions of people all over the world suffer from kidney failure. There are multiple possible causes of kidney failure, but unfortunately, for a lot of patients, the cause is unknown. Some of the possible causes could be anything from diabetes to high blood pressure to chronic glomerulonephritis. For diabetics, “kidney damage develops in about 20% of patients with both Type 1, young onset, insulin-dependent diabetes, and Type 2, older onset, non-insulin dependent diabetes”(Guide). A main contributor with diabetes and kidney failure is when there is poor control of the blood glucose and high blood pressure. If it is not controlled it can create kidney failure or, once kidney failure begins, it can make the problem much worse. Another common cause of kidney failure is polycystic kidney disease. Kidney disease is a “genetic problem leading to the development of large kidneys which are enlarged by presence of cysts”(Guide). Though this disease is common, only about 50-75% of people diagnosed with this disease will experience kidney failure. Another main problem that is associated with kidney failure is chronic glomerulonephritis. It “is caused by a painless inflammation of the glomerulus”(Guide). Because they are so important to the functionality of the human body, it is easily understood why it is such a big problem when someone’s kidneys start to fail.

In the past, if someone’s kidneys failed, there was not much how for survival. Thanks to a Dr. Willem Kolff and Dr. Belding Scribner, people can live much longer than was ever thought possible a hundred years ago. In 1943, Dr. Willem Kolff invented a machine that would replace the function of the kidneys. However, there was a great problem in the fact that a patient could only used one vein and artery for this process and after a few sessions would run out of arteries and veins. In 1960, the hero of the day came along, Dr. Belding Scribner. He invented a shunt that allowed a patient to receive dialysis for as long as they lived. It was a permanent device that was placed into the patient. Because Dr. Scribner created this new life saving shunt, he was able to open up a dialysis out patient program, where patients would come and receive dialysis a few times a week. This was an outstanding advancement because now millions of people’s lives could be saved due to this one man’s invention.

Dialysis today is a life saving process. The dialysis machine has three main jobs: “pump blood and watch flow for safety, clean wastes from blood, and watch your blood pressure and the rate of fluid removal from your body”(Clearinghouse). The machine safely filters out the patient’s blood through the dialyzer, where it is cleaned and then returned back into the patient’s body. The dialyzer is “a large canister containing thousands of small fibers through which [the patient’s] blood is passed”(Clearinghouse). A cleansing fluid or dialysis solution is pumped around these fibers. The fibers are what permit all of the wastes and toxins to go from the patient’s blood into the solution and out of the blood stream. Patients have to go to the clinic, or dialysis center, around three times a week. Each session lasts anywhere between three to five hours. This is an intense schedule but scientists have not found an easier solution except this one. Scientists hope that one day they will be able to perform dialysis on a patient while they sleep, but for now, they have only advanced as much to train a family member of the patient to perform dialysis at home. This is the only solution that gives the patients some flexibility. Unfortunately, the number of treatments and hours are still the same. Also the patient needs a willing volunteer to get the extensive training and to be there to perform it the needed number of times.

Hemodialysis has come a long way from when it was created in 1943. Dr. Willem Kolff and Dr. Belding Scribner certainly changed the future and outlook of millions of people. Although dialysis is not the most painless procedure out there and is rather time consuming, those doctors have given countless numbers of people a new life that would not have been possible one hundred years ago. There is still a ton of research currently being done to make dialysis an easier procedure, but the progress and advancement done by these modern day heroes cannot be more appreciated by the friends and family of dialysis patients, and, of course, needless to say, by the patients themselves who have a chance to live a life.

Bibliography:

Clearinghouse, National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information. "Treatment Methods for Kidney Failure: Hemodialysis". Feb. 18 2007. .

Dictionary.com. "Kidneys". 2006. Random House. Feb. 18 2007. .

Guide, Kidney Patient. "What Causes Kidney Failure?" 2005. Feb. 18 2007. .

Patients, American Association of Kidney. "What Are Kidneys and What Do They Do?" 2007. Feb. 18 2007. .