Dialysis

When your kidneys are healthy, they clean your blood. They also make hormones that keep your bones strong and your blood healthy. When your kidneys fail, you need treatment to replace the work your kidneys used to do. Unless you have a kidney transplant, you will need a treatment called dialysis.

What is Dialysis?

Dialysis is a treatment method that replicates the function of the kidneys when they are failing. In healthy individuals, the kidneys work to filter and remove waste products, excess fluid, salts and toxins from the blood.

Dialysis Types

Indications for Dialysis

Renal Replacement Therapy

Benefits and Disadvantages of Dialysis

Latest Dialysis News and Research

Vaccination linked to better kidney outcomes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients

Vaccinated patients hospitalized with COVID-19 who developed acute kidney injury had better outcomes than unvaccinated patients with the same condition, new research suggests.

14 Jun 2025

WHO warns of imminent shutdown of Gaza’s key hospitals

WHO warns that the Gaza Strip's health system is collapsing, with Nasser Medical Complex, the most important referral hospital left in Gaza, and Al-Amal Hospital at risk of becoming non-functional. There are already no hospitals functioning in the north of Gaza.

6 Jun 2025

Study: Deceased-donor kidney transplants do not benefit all patients equally

A major international study, being presented today at the 62nd ERA Congress, reveals that the long-accepted survival advantage of deceased-donor kidney transplantation does not extend equally to every patient and every donor organ.

5 Jun 2025

Necrosis may hold the key to unlocking longevity and space health solutions

The process of necrosis, a form of cell death, may represent one of the most promising ways to change the course of human aging, disease and even space travel, according to a new study from researchers at UCL, drug discovery company LinkGevity and the European Space Agency (ESA).

29 May 2025

Silence on E. coli outbreak highlights how Trump team’s changes undermine food safety

Colton George felt sick. The 9-year-old Indiana boy told his parents his stomach hurt. He kept running to the bathroom and felt too ill to finish a basketball game.

28 May 2025

Personalized gene editing corrects fatal infant metabolic disorder in world-first treatment

Researchers have used a personalised base-editing gene therapy to successfully treat an infant with carbamoyl-phosphate synthetase 1 (CPS1) deficiency, a rare and life-threatening inborn error of metabolism. This pioneering approach chemically corrects the underlying mutation without cutting DNA, showing promise for precision treatment of ultrarare genetic disorders.

20 May 2025

World's first-in-human bladder transplant marks milestone in urologic surgery

Surgeons from Keck Medicine of USC and UCLA Health have performed the world's first-in-human bladder transplant.

18 May 2025

Natural compound fisetin protects blood vessels from hardening

A new research paper was published in Aging (Aging-US) Volume 17, Issue 4, on April 2, 2025, titled "Fisetin ameliorates vascular smooth muscle cell calcification via DUSP1-dependent p38 MAPK inhibition."

6 May 2025

COVID-19 leaves longer-lasting symptoms than flu or pneumonia, study finds

A large U.S. cohort study found that post-acute symptoms after COVID-19 vary by initial disease severity, age, sex, and comorbidities. Compared to influenza and pneumonia, long COVID presented with distinct symptom patterns and longer-lasting effects.

1 May 2025

Long COVID poses lasting health risks for young people

Long COVID can result in increased risk for a variety of serious health problems for young people, including those affecting the kidney, gut, and cardiovascular system, according to a group of new studies led by investigators at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

21 Apr 2025

Beyond Ivy League, RFK Jr.’s NIH slashed science funding across states that backed Trump

The National Institutes of Health's sweeping cuts of grants that fund scientific research are inflicting pain almost universally across the U.S., including in most states that backed President Donald Trump in the 2024 election.

17 Apr 2025

UCLA study identifies key protein driving kidney scarring

New UCLA research conducted using mouse models and human genetic data has uncovered a critical factor that determines how much scarring occurs following kidney injury, leading scientists to identify a potential precision medicine approach to prevent chronic kidney disease progression.

9 Apr 2025