ESRD (end-stage renal disease) is the final stage of chronic kidney disease. Patients’ kidneys have been severely damaged that the normal daily life can not be guaranteed.
In this stage, GFR (glomerular filtration rate, and it can be used to measure how the kidneys function) is significantly diminished. For those that have GFR of 10, it means that they have less than 10% kidney functions and they may begin dialysis or start to prepare for dialysis.
However, many patients do not want to begin dialysis for fear of developing dependence on it or can not afford the cost of maintenance dialysis. If ESRD patients with GFR of 10 or less want to prolong life without dialysis, it is recommended that a dietitian should be consulted to design a proper diet plan according to the patients’ illness conditions. Ketosteril and proper diets can much slow down illness progression, protect kidney functions and reduce strain to the kidneys, liver and heart.
With dialysis, usually patients can live another 3-5 years. Patients with ESRD have an average annual mortality rate of 22%. Though dialysis can prolong life expectancy for end stage renal disease, it can not cure the disease or reverse renal damages, therefore more effective treatments are needed. The aim of effective treatment is to increase the patients’ GFR which means improvement of kidney functions.
Kidney transplant is far more effective treatment for end stage renal disease than dialysis because it can enable patients 10 times more kidney functions than dialysis. But infection and organ rejections are the main issue affecting the life span of the transplanted kidneys, not to mention the huge cost of the surgery and extreme scarcity of matching kidney donors.
Immunotherapy is a more natural and conservative treatment for renal failure. It is the combination of Chinese and Western therapies. It aims at repairing damaged renal tissues so as to restore lost kidney functions little by little.
Besides renal failure, cardiovascular complications and other comorbid diseases should be prevented and treated timely and properly so as to greatly reduce the risk factors that can cause death for ESRD patients.
Patients with end stage renal disease need an all-sided medical treatments, home remedies, modification of diets, exercises and life style to help alleviate discomforts, improve life quality and prolong life expectancy.
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