Bleeding and bruising may become more prominent. Patients are often prone to infection and develop fluid retention with ankle swelling and shortness of breath. As these symptoms may indicate quite dangerous underlying problems, the aim is to commence dialysis before these symptoms occur . Dialysis improves most of the symptoms of kidney failure with the exception of anaemia, some bone problems and sometimes itch, although itch is generally improved with good biochemistry control. The anaemia can now be improved by the use of a drug called erythropoietin which is exactly the same as the hormone produced by healthy kidneys.
Erythropoietin stimulates the bone marrow to produce red blood cells.
After around 10 years of dialysis some new symptoms may develop related to the inefficiency of dialysis in comparison to normal kidney function. So I have wasted a lot of time with a system that nobody seems to use, but there you have it. All rights reserved.