13.1.8

Dialysis

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Dialysis

Dialysis is one possible treatment for kidney failure. It is an essential treatment for people whose kidneys cannot keep the concentrations of urea and salt at an optimum level to ensure that tissue damage does not occur.

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The dialysis machine

  • A dialysis machine is designed to replicate the kidney’s function.
  • The patient is linked up to the dialysis machine and their blood flows into the machine.
  • The machine contains a fluid that is designed to have the optimum concentrations of salts (e.g. sodium and potassium ions) and glucose, as would be found in a healthy person’s blood.
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The dialysis fluid

  • The patients blood passes over a partially permeable membrane in the machine that is designed to replicate the kidney tubules.
  • The dialysis fluid is on the other side of the membrane. A concentration gradient is established, allowing excess ions and urea to diffuse from an area of high concentration in the patient’s blood to an area of low concentration in the dialysis fluid.

Jump to other topics

1Classification of Living Organisms

2Organisation of the Organism

3Movement Into & Out of Cells

4Biological Molecules

5Enzymes

6Plant Nutrition

7Human Nutrition

8Transport in Plants

9Transport in Animals

10Diseases & Immunity

11Gas Exchange in Humans

12Respiration

13Excretion in Humans

14Coordination & Response

15Drugs

16Reproduction

17Inheritance

18Variation & Selection

19Organisms & Their Environment

20Human Influence on Ecosystems

21Biotechnology & Genetic Modification

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