What Is Kidney Failure?
Chronic kidney failure, also known as end stage renal disease or ESRD, is a condition where the kidneys lose their ability to filter waste from the bloodstream to convert into urine. Once the kidneys are so damaged that they cannot filter the blood, the patient will require dialysis or a kidney transplant in order to live.
When the kidneys fail, dialysis -- a treatment where the blood is filtered and cleaned to do the work the kidneys cannot -- is performed. While dialysis can do the essential work of the kidneys, the treatment is expensive and time-consuming, requiring a minimum of three 3-hour treatments per week.
Kidney transplant surgery is the only “cure” for end stage renal disease, as a functional kidney transplant will remove the need for dialysis. A transplant poses its own challenges, but provides a great improvement in overall health when the surgery is successful.
