What Is An End Stage Renal Disease?

An End Stage Renal Disease is an illness wherein the kidneys have loss its ability fo perform its normal function. It can no longer filter the blood that pass through the kidneys and excrete the toxins through the urine out of the body.

My dad had an end stage renal disease as a complication of his hypertension. Other conditions that may lead to chronic renal failure are:

Diabetic Nephropathy - diabetes can cause permanent damage to the kidney

Lupus - a chronic autoimmune disease

A prolonged urinary tract obstruction

Some of the symptoms of a chronic renal failure:

1. Poor Appetite *

2. Vomiting

3. Increase in Urine Output or no urine output

4. Shortness of Breath*

5. Recurrent Urinary Tract Infection*

6. Edema or Tissue Swelling *

7. Headache

8. Muscle Pain

9. Fatigue *

10. Irritability*

11. Bad Breath*

12. Urinary Incontinence

13. Insomnia

Those with asterisks are some of the sypmtoms that my dad exhibited when he was diagnosed with an endstage renal disease.

Some of the Laboratory Tests requested for him are:

1. Blood Tests - which includes Complete Blood Count, Electrolytes, Creatinine, Urea

2. Nuclear Glomerulus Filtration Rate

3. Urinalysis
4. Renal or Kidney Ultrasound

An End Stage Renal Disease can be treated only with a kidney transplantation while dialysis is the procedure done to rid the blood of toxins which under normal circumstances are eliminated by the kidneys.