i. How long can a person survive with and without dialysis?+
Life expectancy can vary depending upon patient health conditions and how well he follows the treatment plan. Expected survival for patient on dialysis is 5-10 years, however, many patients can live well on dialysis for 20 or even 30 years. These wide fluctuations depend on patient’s age, nutritional status, and presence of other co-existing disease conditions like heart disease, cancer, etc.
Patients who have been on dialysis for atleast six months and who have made the decision to stop dialysis treatment can survive on an average for a period of 10 days. However, this means some will live a short time and some may live for weeks.
The dialysis treatment itself is painless, but there might be some discomfort when the needles are put into fistula or graft. In hemodialysis, if needle stick is bothering any patient then they can ask for numbing (pain suppressing) medicine. Patient might also have a few painful muscle cramps during hemodialysis, especially if a patient has gained a lot of fluid weight between treatments. But the care team can help patient to manage the cramps and ensure that it does not happen again.
In peritoneal dialysis (PD), abdominal pain can be a major sign of an infection called peritonitis. Patients who undergo peritoneal dialysis with a cycler machine can have pain at the end of a drain cycle. But doctors and healthcare management team can help patients learn different ways to prevent these problems.
Low blood pressure is one of the most common side effects of hemodialysis. It can be caused by the drop in fluid levels during dialysis. Other side effects are sepsis (blood poisoning), muscle cramps, itchy skin, etc.
Peritoneum (peritonitis) bacterial infection is the common side effect of peritoneal dialysis. It can be caused if the dialysis equipment is not kept clean. If there are bacteria on the equipment, they can spread to the peritoneum (thin layer of tissue that lines the inside of the abdomen).
iv.What is considered as high creatinine level? What are the symptoms of high creatinine level? +
Creatinine levels play a major role in assessing kidney function. Elevated creatinine level signifies impaired kidney function. Most men with normal kidney have approximately 0.6 to 1.2 mg/dL of creatinine. While most women with normal kidney have between 0.5 to 1.1mg/ dL. When creatinine levels reaches 5.0 or more in adults may indicate severe kidney impairment.
Some of the most common causes of elevated creatinine levels include diabetes, high blood pressure, urinary tract infections, and kidney functions.