Dialysis Made Comfy

Dr.  Ram  Prabahar

While the process is a saviour when it comes to Kidney failure, improper maintence of the set up in various centres can lead to patients contracting other diseases.

As growing incomes give India’s million access to first world staples such as cars and cell phones, the population is also experiencing an unpleasant by product of westernized life styles – an epidemic of diabetes and the kidney disease it causes.

The numbers of dialysis centre in India is rapidly increasing. India’s demand for dialysis is growing at a rate of 31 per cent, compared to 6 per cent in the US and 8 per cent in the rest of the world. India has more than 50,000 patients who receive long term dialysis.

Being diagnosed with kidney disease can be quite unnerving. Having to get on with dialysis, even more so. Many of us treated dialysis as a problem.

It is important to realize that dialysis is the solution (albeit, non–ideal) to the problem of kidney disease.

Kidney disease is the problem that dialysis attempts to solve. Dialysis attempting to replace kidney function. Kidneys are probably the only vital organs which can be realistically replaced by artificial means.

Maintence dialysis, which serves as an altertive to kidney transplantation, is a well recognized modality of treating patients having end stage rel disease. Several thousands of patients all over the world are surviving and achieving reasoble quality of life on maintence dialysis.

Unfortutely in our country the quality of dialysis delivered to patients can vary from center to center. Good quality of life and survival on maintence dialysis depends on following major factors mely – doses of dialysis delivered or solute removal achieved, time on dialysis, adequacy of nutrition, family and socio economic support, magement of co–morbid illnesses and prevention and magement of infections.

Cross infections are a very serious problem facing dialysis today. A third of people who are on maintence hemodialysis eventually get infected with a chronic viral disease.

The disease is usually Hepatitis C. Some people also get infected with Hepatitis B or HIV. Centers that follow stringent infection control processes elimite cross infections completely.

(The writer is a doctor at SIMS Hemodialysis Centre)