Overview 

Hemodialysis is the type of dialysis which is performed by the machine, the machine performs the filtration work of toxins, waste, fluids and salts from your blood after the kidneys are unable to perform its functions. It is one of the most appropriate ways for treatment of advanced kidney failure and it can also help you in living a healthy life even if your kidneys are failing. 

Things which you need to follow with hemodialysis: 

• A strict treatment plan. 
• Regular intake of medications. 
• Strict diet plans. 

Hemodialysis is a complicated responsibility, however it will not be only faced by you alone,your medical team including kidney specialists with great experience of  performing hemodialysis will also help you in managing hemodialysis. 

Why is it performed? 

On the basis of various factors your doctor will decide when you should start the procedure of hemodialysis. Some of those factors includes: 

• Your overall health 
• Condition of your kidneys 
• Symptoms
• Your preference 
• Your lifestyle

Some symptoms and signs of renal failure like fatigue, swelling, nausea and vomiting might be noticed by you. For measuring your kidney functions your doctor will perform the test of estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) to measure the performance levels of your kidney functions. Estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of your body is measured by the help of your blood creatinine tests, age, gender and several other factors. This estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) will be helpful for your doctors to determine your kidney functions and plan your treatment schedule as well as when to start hemodialysis. 

Hemodialysis helps your body in many ways such as controlling your blood pressure and maintaining the correct amount and the required minerals such as sodium and potassium in your body. Usually it  is good to start hemodialysis treatment before your kidneys get completely damaged. 

Some of the common causes of kidney failure includes: 

• Inherited kidney disease 
• High blood pressure 
• Diabetes 
• Inflammation of kidney 
• Kidney cysts
• High uses of medications which are responsible for causing damage to the kidneys. 
• Excessive smoking 
• Excessive alcohol intake

Your kidneys can also get stopped suddenly because of the reasons such as critical illness, severe operation, heart attack or any other harmful problem. Some specific medications are also harmful for the  kidneys. 

A number of people taking (chronic) kidney failure chooses any other part then diagnosis. At the place of dialysis many people go for other treatment like maximal medical therapy, which is also known as maximal Conservative management. In this therapy the complications of advanced chronic disease are managed actively, such as anemia, high blood pressure and excessive fluid loads in the body. 

It is most probably possible that some other people will choose preemptive kidney transplant surgery, at the place of starting the treatment of dialysis. You should always try to get more information about your choice from your healthcare provider team. You should always m¹ake your choice individually because benefits of dialysis may differ upon specific health issues. 

Acute complications during hemodialysis 

Many people with the requirement for hemodialysis consist of a number of acute complications. Hemodialysis helps many people by extending their lifespan, still people with disease have less life expectancy than normal people.  

Even if hemodialysis is the effective treatment for replacing a few lost kidney functions, it may also cause some acute complications from the list mentioned below, however these complications are not experienced by everyone. Dialysis team will help you to deal with these complications. 

• Blood pressure loss: Usually it is seen that low blood pressure is the common symptom complication of hemodialysis. It may affect your breathing and create some more issues like muscle cramp, vomiting, nausea and abdominal cramps. 

• Sleep related issues: People getting hemodialysis treatment generally suffer sleep related issues. Some of the causes because of which their sleep gets disturb are breaks in breathing during sleep, itching and uncomfortable legs problems. 

• Itching: People who are getting treatment with the help of  hemodialysis procedure usually suffer with itching skin, which usually gets worse just after attending or continuing the treatment of hemodialysis. 

• Overload of fluid: In the treatment procedure of hemodialysis extra fluids of your body are removed, still drinking more fluid then the recommendation may result in life ending complications, such as heart failure or fluid filling in your lungs. 

• Depression: Mood swings is also one of the most common complications of kidney failure. In case if you experience any kind of depression or anxiety after starting the treatment procedure of hemodialysis then you may talk to your health care provider team so that you can get rid of this symptom with any effective treatment. 

• High potassium levels or low potassium levels: In the procedure of hemodialysis help to remove the extra potassium of your body. If a high amount of potassium or a small amount of potassium will be removed in the treatment procedure of dialysis from your body then it may make your heart beat irregularly or make the heart beat permanently stop. 

• Muscle cramps: Yet it is not clear that the muscle cramps are the common complications of hemodialysis treatment procedure. It is most probably possible that the cramps can be alleviated by adjustment of the hemodialysis instructions. The symptoms can be prevented by adjustment of fluid and sodium intake before the procedure of hemodialysis treatment. 

• Bone diseases: After getting completely damaged your kidneys will be unable to produce vitamin D, which is one of the vital vitamins that helps in the absorption of calcium. Shortage of vitamin D can make your bones weak. Additionally if the hormones of parathyroid will be much produced then it can decrease the calcium from your bones. The removal of calcium from your bones may result in many types of bone diseases. 

Inflammation of the membrane surrounding the heart: If you will get insufficient hemodialysis then the membrane near your heart will become inflamed, which will make your heart unable to pump blood effectively all over your body.