By Rex Bush
One of the life saving miracles of modern medicine is
machinery that cleans the blood of impurities. In medicine, dialysis is
primarily used to provide an artificial replacement for lost kidney function
due to kidney failure.
Dialysis may be used for patients who have either
temporarily, or permanently lost their kidney function.
While life-saving, dialysis can also pose risks of injury
and death to some users.
FIRST USE SYNDROME
Unfortunately, some bodies don't react well to the use of an
artificial kidney (dialysis machine).
"First Use Syndrome" is a rare but severe
anaphylactic reaction to the artificial kidney. Its symptoms include sneezing,
wheezing, shortness of breath, back pain, chest pain, or sudden death.
If you find yourself experiencing any of these symptoms
after your first treatment tell the dialysis tech or call your doctor
immediately as First Use Syndrome can cause sudden death. For more information
on this syndrome see the Wikipedia article on Hemodialysis.
BLEEDING
According to Dr. David Fowler, chief medical examiner of the
state of Maryland, nearly two dozen kidney dialysis patients in Maryland bled
to death during the period 2000-2007. The majority of the 22 deaths happened
while patients were at home alone and started bleeding, reported Fowler.
An alert from the Maryland Department of Health and Mental
Hygiene's Office of Health Care Quality explains why this occurs. "For
patients with kidney failure, mechanically cleansing the blood outside the body
three times a week is the only way the can stay alive. However, the long-term
access site needed to draw and return blood to the body can weaken and
fail."
MRI
An MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) is a picture taking
device similar to an x-ray. MRIs can see things that can't be seen with
ordinary x-rays.
Sometimes even an ordinary MRI is not enough and a special
process is required to make abnormalities visible. A liquid, known as a
"contrast agent" is injected into the blood stream. This creates
contrast on the MRI picture which makes visible certain abnormalities.
The contrast agent is then filtered out of the body through
the kidneys. However, for dialysis patients and others with kidney failure the
kidneys don't remove the contrast agent fast enough and the toxic contrast
agent can poison the body.
Gadolinium is a rare metal which is used in some contrast
agents. Recently, doctors have discovered that it has a rare and painful side
effect known as Nephrogenic Systemic Fibrosis.
Initial symptoms of the disease include high blood pressure,
muscle weakness and thick hardened skin. With time victims may suffer pain,
burning and itching in affected areas. With more time, victims may experience
stiffness in skin and joints which completely immobilizes them. Some suffer
death.
For more info on NSF read the following article on my site:
"MRI Health Risk - Fatal, Incurable Illness."
STOPPING
Yes, its true, once you have started dialysis you must be
very careful if you choose to opt out of this treatment. According to the Renal
Unit of the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland, "for patients already
on dialysis, surveys in several countries have shown that stopping dialysis is
quite a common cause of death." However, these are almost always people
who have developed other serious illnesses after starting dialysis.
INFECTION AND CLOTTING
Clean your access before and after treatments. Avoid
sleeping on the arm of your access as this could cause clotting which would
need to be cleaned out before you could get a treatment. If you have a catheter
place, keep the bandage dry, germs love dark, moist places.
Acknowledgments to the dialysis techs at Fresenius Medical
Care in Bad Homburg, Germany and to the Renal Unit of the Royal Infirmary of
Edinburgh, Scotland
