When is Hemodialysis Necessary? - Essay Sample

Introduction

The process of hemodialysis is that which the function of the kidneys is taken over when they fail to function. Usually, the function of the organs is to make the hormone that helps the body to create red blood cells, help to balance the number of minerals in the body and to remove waste materials from the body. When the kidney fails to function, then the process of dialysis is introduced to help the kidneys perform as usual. The process can be either through Hemodialysis when the body fluid is passed through a filter outside the body and then returned can be done at home or in hospital. The other is peritoneal dialysis is when the blood is cleaned while still inside the body using a fluid that is put inside the abdomen to absorb waste then the fluid is drained it is done at home (Flu & Cough-Cold, 2018).

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This genre is mostly connected with the medical field, and it addresses the issue of how the condition affecting the kidney is going to be treated. The method of treatment is mostly used in hospitals or at home. The field of hemodialysis is used when a person is suffering from a kidney condition. The common topics of discussion are how the patient will maintain good health as they undergo the treatment of hemodialysis. The patients are involved in discussions of how to maintain good health and accept themselves as they are and show the correct remedies that they should use to attain the proper health for survival in their lives. They are involved in talks with other patients to see that there is hope in life despite the suffering that they go through as they are being treated. In terms of reading the flow sheet for the medication, they are educated on how to read it to identify the next step of practice that will be carried out during their treatment. The aim is for them to be prepared mentally, financially, emotionally and psychologically to help them accept the treatment and progress in the journey of attaining better health as they are living and undergoing medical surgery.

The people suffering from renal failure are the patients, their family members, specialists, general practitioners, and nurses. These people should be supported socially (Aghakhani, Sharif, Molazem & Habibzadeh, 2014). The doctor writes the texts in the flow sheet or is helped by the nurse or any other specialists no other person can fill the sheet unless they have substantive knowledge about the terms and the progress of the condition. The persons who write about the real situation should be persons who have adequate knowledge about dialysis and the renal diseases of the kidney. They can be specialists, nurses or doctors. The persons who read the articles in these genres are the patients, the nurses and specialists assisting them the family members who can be from any field but can understand the primary medical language.

The writers write from research on a computer that is mostly used to educate people. They do not do it in a rush but rather slowly and in a particular manner to help to inform the patients together with their family members. The articles are not meant for a specific person any person can read the articles to expand their knowledge or to search for a solution for a member of the family or a friend. The principal purpose of articles of this nature is to help people be on the limelight of renal failure what to do to avoid t and how to acquire treatment if by any chance a person is diagnosed with the condition. Through the Using the articles already written, it is evident that most people acquire the knowledge that they were looking for or they can find any information they search o based on the articles written. It would be therefore right to say that the article is beneficial to all persons since they are not targeted at particular individuals but for the general knowledge for all persons who can read and understand the content.

Patterns and Features in Hemodialysis

The dialysis therapy in the treatment of end-stage renal disease (ESRD) postpones and prevents imminent death. The patients have high morbidity, mortality, they are admitted in hospital frequently, medical expenses, and they need different treatment and live a life that is of lower quality than the majority of the population. The daily outcomes and practice patterns studies (DOPPS) revealed that dialysis practice is different among the countries that have a large population of people who undergo the dialysis process (Lakshminarayana, Sheetal, Mathew, Rajesh, Kurian & Unni, 2017).

The patients of ESRD are placed on treatment for a minimum period of 3 months in the unit responsible for dialysis. The diagnosis of any kidney condition is usually based on clinical, laboratory and radiological features. Some patients are also transferred to other groups for example for renal replacement, some for being transported to other countries for treatment or on the waiting list awaiting surgery. In terms of records, the patient's age, gender, the cause of the chronic disease, comorbidities, estimated glomerular filtration rate at the beginning of the hemodialysis, dialysis parameters, survival on hemodialysis and if they die, the cause of their death (Lakshminarayana et al., 2017).

Standard hemodialysis is performed for five hours two times or four hours three times a week. The machines also had volumetric ultrafiltration control installed in them. There is a selection of the dialyzer surface area that amounted to 60% selected for each patient. The dialysate flow rate is generally at 500 ml/minute, and the rate of flow of blood is targeted as per the requirement of the patient. The polysulfone hollow fiber dialyzers of transferring mass area coefficient of 604-781ml/minute Fresenius F HPS (High-Performance Steam Sterilized; 5/6/7) and an ultra-filtration co-efficient of 10-16ml/mmHg (Fresenius F HPS 5/6/7) is used on all patients for uniformity. The above are some of the patterns that are maintained and used on all the patients because they are suitable to support the process being undertaken to achieve successful results for the patient receiving treatment( Lakshminarayana et al., 2017).

When it comes to demographic patterns, mean standard deviation and percentages are used to assess and summarize the data for the number of patients who receive treatment often. A total of 134 patients of them 91 being males who satisfied the requirement to be included in the population were identified. The age ranges from 20-84 where all of them have been vaccinated against hepatitis B, and none of them had any of the following infections. Most patients undergo treatment in the majority of the patients 81%, it is initiated on hemodialysis through uncuffed dual lumen catheters and 66% through the internal jugular vein, and 15% and the arteriovenous fistula was the vascular access in only 19%. Most patients 79% were scheduled on twice-weekly hemodialysis of five hours, and a population of 21 % was on thrice per week of four sessions each. The arteriovenous fistula has the majority of 87.3% of the patients while 12.7% are cuffed with catheter and jugular catheter has 11.2%, and femoral catheter had 1.5 because of arteriovenous fistula failure (Lakshminarayana et al., 2017).

What do the Patterns Reveal about Hemodialysis?

The patterns reveal that hemodialysis is a treatment that requires a lot of social support from the members of the family. There is also needed a lot of funds during the procedure that to some are quite a challenge because not all people can afford the services and where it is affordable, there are very many patients being attended to. The patient, therefore, requires a specific stable source of income for the treatment to maintain the proper standards needed during treatment. These patients should be provided with emotional support since they go through a lot of pain as they acquire the treatment, some suffer rejection from some of their family members thus they are left feeling like a burden and do not have the urge to continue living life like other people. They should be treated with care and shown that they are loved so that they can have the hope to be well again and see that they can live normally.

Hemodialysis causes a high risk of death especially after a patient has gone for a long interval without dialysis. The evidence to support this is not conclusive, therefore; research was conducted on the DOPPS of hemodialysis patients from the United States, Europe, and Japan. The therapy of dialysis is to prevent deaths but to come especially after a long interval most patients die because of the waste products that accumulate during the weekend. The patients on the Monday- Wednesday-Friday schedule had a raised case of mortality especially on Mondays due to the long interval of the weekend. In all the three regions, those who used the Tuesday- Thursday- Saturday plan suffered mortality risk on Tuesday. The association between a day of the week mortality and schedule was stronger for the cardiovascular than that of the non-cardiovascular mortality in the United States. Surprisingly in Japan the case was different because those on Monday to Friday plan risked mortality on Friday for non-cardiovascular while those in Europe on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday had elevated mortality risk on Saturday Saturday (Zhang, Schaubel, Kalbfleisch, Gresham, Robinson, Pisoni, Canaud, Jadoul, Akiba, Saito, Port & Saran, 2012).

The days that dialysis is not performed on the patient lowers the mortality rate as compared to the dialysis days which is contributory to mortality rates. Removal of a large number of fluids and toxins for a short period also increases the potential for intradialytic hypotension to occur that is also a risk factor for mortality in the patients. It results to a rapid reduction in post-dialysis potassium may also be a factor that contributes since hypokalemia can enhance the risk for cardiac arrhythmia and sudden death which is more likely to happen to the patient during dialysis as opposed to the day before dialysis. The day-off effect is inhibited by neurological diseases, cancer, sex, low ultra-filtration rates and using diuretics. However, it may not be caused by conditions like comorbid conditions, blood pressure, serum potassium, serum sodium, and intradialytic weight loss. Persons with cancer are not affected by the first day after a long break and leads to a lower mortality rate because the deaths are elevated by cardiovascular conditions (Zhang et al., 2012).

Frequent dialysis would be more advantageous because it would lower the mortality rates for the patients receiving the medical treatment. It is based on some evidence and from the research above that less frequent dialysis raises the mortality rate in a patient being treated. Therefore based on research, to eliminate the day-off mortality, then there would be a reduction of the elevated rates of dialysis as a result of prolonged intervals in between dialysis sessions. Sharing this information with people from the various fields would be an added advantage as it will help people to be in a position to know what happens and why.

Conclusion

From the research above, writing articles to share knowledge on hemodialysis is a significant step because people will be on the limelight and they can do all that they can to avoid suffering from various conditions that may affect their health and that of their families. In case there is a member of the family or a friend suffering from the disease, then such a person can provide useful information that they may have read from an article or if it is information in a flow sheet as the doctor, specialist or nurse explains the procedure or process that the patient has undergone. They will be able to understand what the doctor mea...