Blog Thread
- Ken Uchikura Newsletter Vol. 202 What is Dialysis?
What is Dialysis?
When I was hospitalized for liver surgery, I had my first dialysis treatment. At first, I went twice a week for three hours. Then, it became twice a week for four hours after leaving the hospital. For many people, they have to undergo treatment three times a week. In that sense, I can call myself lucky because I only go twice a week. But going for four hours twice a week is tiring. When I first started my dialysis treatment, I was so tired I couldn’t move for several hours afterwards. But now, I can drive myself to work after dialysis. Sometimes, I wonder if I really need it anymore, but I go just to be sure.
Dialysis is a treatment used to purify the blood in place of your kidneys when your kidneys’ ability to cleanse your blood’s toxins is impaired. In 1960, the University of Washington developed the procedure in Washington State. In 1962, the procedure went public. The clinic that I go to, the Northwest Kidney Center, for my dialysis treatments also happens to be the first clinic that opened its doors to the public, making it the oldest dialysis center in the world. Before they developed dialysis, kidney disease was a death sentence. When dialysis treatments started, there were only a few seats available. And I’ve heard that life and death depended on who could receive dialysis treatment.
A survey from 2015 showed that about 1,500 per million people in the U.S receive dialysis treatments. When calculated from the population, there are almost 500,000 people who receive dialysis treatments in the United States. In Japan, 2,500 per million people receive dialysis treatments. So, there are more than 300,000 people as a whole who receive dialysis treatments as a whole in Japan. In Taiwan, 3,200 per million people go to dialysis, which is over 75,000 people in total. There are many causes for kidney disease, but I’ve heard diabetes is the most significant cause. In addition to not being able to cleanse toxins in the blood, kidney disease can also cause kidneys to shut down and no longer produce urine. I don’t have that problem, but dialysis has the ability to remove water from the blood in addition to removing toxins. Since your diseased kidneys can’t produce urine, there must be a way to remove water from somewhere. That is the role of dialysis.
In my case, my kidney function declined after my surgery, so I started dialysis. I believe I’m still less dependent on dialysis than others, and I think I should try to maintain this state. The first steps to achieve that is getting more control over my weight and reducing my salt intake. In the U.S, two grams (or ½ teaspoon) is a good rule of thumb. In Japan, it’s said to be six grams. This is because it isn’t as easy to reduce salt in Japan compared to the United States. So, why is it necessary for me to reduce my salt intake?
When your kidneys function normally, your kidneys excrete the excess salt. In the case of kidney disease, salt accumulates in the body because of how impaired this function is. And this is one of the causes of high blood pressure. If high blood pressure persists, your kidney’s blood flow becomes blocked, further deteriorating kidney function. When the kidneys deteriorate, feet swelling and other symptoms occur. I used to have swollen feet, but not anymore. Does this mean that dialysis is helping me?
Since starting dialysis, I’ve found it’s difficult to travel abroad. In the U.S., insurance won’t cover you overseas. In short, if you receive dialysis abroad, you have to pay everything for the treatment. It’s strange how there are so many people receiving dialysis in the world yet there are borders in the dialysis network. Dialysis has been around for about 60 years, but there still seems to be room for evolution.
If you’re in good health, the contents of this newsletter weren’t of much use to you. I apologize if this wasn’t interesting for you. Please take care of your health. I am fine. Thank you for your concern.
Kenichi Uchikura
President / CEO
Pacific Software Publishing, Inc.
ken.uchikura＠pspinc.com
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