The Difference between Hemodialysis and Hemofiltration

We know that Renal Failure patients usually take Hemodialysis, which can clean their blood. However, it cannot remove all the poisoning substances. There is another method named Hemofiltration, which usually is mistaken as Hemodialysis. So what is the difference between them?

The Difference between Hemodialysis and Hemofiltration

First, their principles are different. Hemodialysis involves diffusion of solutes across a semipermeable membrane. By concentration gradient and hydrostatic pressure across the membrane, excessive water, urea and other waste products are removed from blood to dialysate. Although Hemofiltration also achieves movement of solutes across a semi-permeable membrane, solute movement with Hemofiltration is governed by convection rather than by diffusion. Without dialysate, only a positive hydrostatic pressure drives water out and solutes get dragged through the membrane along with the flow of water at a similar rate.

Second, removed substances are different between Hemodialysis and Hemofiltration. As diffusion is used in Hemodialysis, only small substances can pass through the semi-permeable membrane, such as urea, potassium, and phosphate, but the large molecular weight solutes can not be removed. With the help of a positive hydrostatic pressure coursed by convection, it is better than Hemodialysis in moderate molecular and macro-molecular substances removal. Hemofiltration is more similar to glomeruli in the function of filtration.

Third, Hemofiltration is more suitable than Hemodialysis to some symptoms, such as Resistant Hypertension, Water Retention, Hypetension, Heart Failure caused by high blood volume, Uremic Pericardditis, Acut Renal Failure and Hepatic Coma. However, Hemofiltration also have disadvantages. Its price is higher than Hemodialysis due to the need of plentiful placement fluid. Blood pressure during Hemofiltration is not easy to control and low pressure and high pressure may occur if the volume is in imbalance. The small products may be not removed as effectively as Hemodialysis.

Therefore, which dialysis to choose depends on each patient’s individul condition instead of the disadvantages of those two dialyses.

What Causes the Atrophy of Kidney?

Atrophy of kidney means that your kidney is relatively smaller or obviously shrinks. The size of kidneys is up to age, sex, height and weight of the person. Long-term kidney disease will do damage to the kidney units. As the necrosis and hardening of kidney units, the kidneys will become smaller in size. As the kidneys atrophies, the renal function declines as well. When the patients' kidneys become smaller, the disease has already or inevitable developed into Renal Failure or Uremia. Therefore, in order to treat kidney disease, to improve and control atrophy of the kidneys is very important.

What Causes the Atrophy of Kidney?

What causes the atrophy of kidney?
Atrophy of kidney can happen to single or bilateral kidneys. In general, there are several factors which can cause the atrophy of kidney. When notice your kidneys is smaller, first you need to consider whether it is due to congenital renal dysplasia. Then you need to consider whether you are suffering from kidney disease or your disease has developed into end stage, such as Renal Insufficiency, Uremia, Acute Glomerular Disease, Diabetic Nephrosclerosis, rejection reaction of kidney transplant, Chronic Glomerulonephritis, renal cortical necrosis, Alport Syndrome, acute renal tubular necrosis, Hypertensive Nephrosclerosis etc.
Atrophy of bilateral kidneys is caused when various chronic kidney diseases develop into Renal Failure or Uremia stage: Serum Creatinine and BUN are elevated a lot, renal parenchyma is damaged greatly, then the kidneys will become smaller. Kidney diseases are a kind of latent disease. Usually there are no symptoms until GFR is lower than 50% (Kidneys have been damaged a lot.). Therefore, when we discover the kidneys become smaller, our kidneys have been damaged a lot and at this time we should positively find the cause so as to get effective treatment. Besides, atrophy of kidneys may cause by nephrophthisis (single kidney is shrunk and the other is with hydronephrosis or enlarged.), renal arteriostenosis or congenital renal dysplasia.
Atrophy of single kidney is common. Patients usually go to see a doctor because of high blood pressure, soreness of waist or other symptoms. It can be diagnosed by a B ultrasound, KUB or IVP. In this situation, except the primary symptoms, there are no obvious blood urine and proteinuria, and the renal function is normal. If kidney disease is caused by urinary tract infection, urinary tract obstruction or some medicine, renal function can decline sharply and after several years, the kidneys may be shrunk.
Generally speaking, the atrophy of kidneys is closely related to the long term kidney disease. Therefore, smaller size of kidneys can be an indicator of kidney disease. In order to prevent the kidneys from further atrophying, timely and effective treatment should be taken. In Shijiazhuang Kidney Disease Hospital, we adopt Micro-Chinese Medicine to treatment kidney disease. Micro-Chinese Medcine can block the process of renal fibrosis, repair the damaged renal instrinsic cells and renal function, rebuid the normal kidney structure. At the same time, the size of the kidneys won't become smaller any more. Then Stem Cell Transplant is carried out to generate new renal intrinsic cells so as to supplement the necrotic renal intrinsic cells and improve the renal function.

Prevent PKD Deteriorating into Kidney Failure

Polycystic Kidney Disease is a congenital disease which shows numerous cysts in different size in Kidneys. The increasing of cysts in kidneys can lead to obvious expansion of kidneys. The increasing expansion of kidneys can lead to serious damage to kidney tissues and then leading to Kidney Failure. As for the treatment for Kidney Failure causing by Polycystic Kidney Disease, there is no methods to treat Polycystic Kidney Disease thoroughly so they should put the key point to the prevention of Kidney Failure and the positive treatment of PKD. The good treatment method towards to PKD should decrease the size of cysts and prevent the deterioration of Polycystic Kidney Disease.

Prevent PKD Deteriorating into Kidney Failure

Ways to prevent the deterioration of Polycystic Kidney Disease:

1. Find disease early. According to statistic, 70% to 80% Polycystic Kidney Disease have the tendency of hereditary. If there is one people in family who is diagnosed with Polycystic Kidney Disease, family members should do kidney test every half year or one year. The earlier people find Polycystic Kidney Disease the better treatment effect they can get.

2. Prevent or treat complications at early period. Hypertension, urine tract infection and cysts broken are common complications for patients with Polycystic Kidney Disease, which are also important reasons to cause kidney function damage. Therefore, patients should treat and control timely.

3. Fluid pumping puncture is a popular method which can pump fluid inside cysts out. However, this method is only appropriate for big cysts which are larger than 5cm. This method is easy to handle and have little damage to kidney tissues. The disadvantage for this method is easy to relapse.

4. Chinese Medicine for treating Polycystic Kidney Disease is effective and popular in recent years. As for patients with early-stage Kidney Failure caused by Polycystic Kidney Disease, Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy show great treatment effect. It can effectively control and decrease the size of cysts in kidneys so as to decrease the pressure to kidney tissues and then repair damaged kidney tissues.

5. Family health care and proper nutrition. Patients with Polycystic Kidney Disease should keep good mood and take proper food. They should take fresh and light food, eat more fruits, control the intake of protein, stop smoking and drinking and stop eating spicy food. If people show edema, they should restrain the intake of salt. Don’t do strenuous exercise so as to avoid the broken of cysts.

Three Causes of Polycystic Kidney Disease

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) is an autosomal domiant disorder, whose development is the course of renal fibrosis being formed. As times goes, renal functions will lose along with renal fibrosis deteriorating. Although the genetic pathogenesis of PKD is unknown, scholars have made clear the basic pathogenic factors resulting in renal fibrosis. There are three main causes of Polycystic Kidney Disease.

Three Causes of Polycystic Kidney Disease

The causing genes

With genetic flaw or genic mutation, the body of the patient will secrete some substances, arousing the cysts. Stimulated by those substances, tubular basement membrane turns to be abnormal and secrete epidermal growth factor (EGF), Transforming Growth Factor (TGF-β) and Insulin-like growth factor (IGF), which all are able to boost the proliferation and secretion of epithelial cells of kidney tubules. This is the first step of Polycystic Kidney Disease on exertion.

Kidney tubule epithelial cells’ proliferating and secreting

As renal tubular epithelial cells proliferate unusually, blocking its unobstructed flow passage. The upstream of liquid will be forced to extrude the wall of tubules and form cysts. As the cysts grow, they will squeeze other tissues in kidney and result in the lack of blood and oxygen, which open the course of renal fibrosis.

With fibrosis developing, a lot of nephritoxic factors are released, such as platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) and Transforming Growth Factor (TGF-β), which will make renal tubular epithelial cells transform into abnormal tissues and Myofibroblast. Those myofibroblast tend to produce and secretes a large quantity of extracellular matrix which is hard to be degraded.

It is the Chance I Giving Them that Improves My Life

On June 23, 2011, Stefanos Stamatakis, a patient with Polycystic Kidney from Greek, discharged from our hospital. His disease is greatly improved after the treatment with Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy .

In Greek, he was very upset for his doctor said what he could do was to wait for dialysis and kidney transplantation, but he was trying to seek for other effective treatments. When he found our hospital on Internet, he contacted with us and knew more information about the therapeutic methods in our hospital. Then, He sent his detailed examination reports to us. After the experts in our hospital hold a meeting to discuss his disease, we picked him up at Beijing Airport.

When he arrived, he has symptoms of Polycystic Kidney such as hematuresis, hypertension oliguria, hyperkalemia, anemia and renal dysfunction. His Serum Creatinine is over 900umol/L and has developed to Uremia.

With one and a half month’s treatment, his disease is greatly improved. His creatinine decreases to about 300umol/L. And his other symptoms have all returned to normal.

We are gratified for Stefanos Stamatakis. It is that he never gives up that helped him get rid of the disease. When he left for home, He said he was content with the treatment and nursing here. He also advised all friends who are suffering from kidney disease that they should give the hospital a chance and they would greatly improve your disease and bring you a better life.

Is There a Cure for Polycystic Kidney Disease?

Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) here refers to autosomal dominant inherited disease. Except changing the causing gene, we have no method to remove the cysts completely. If you mean the cure is to make those cysts disappear, there is no cure for Polycystic Kidney Disease for changing the gene is still in experimental stage and kidney transplantation are not suitable to all patients, but we can shrink the cysts, not affecting patients with Polycystic Kidney Disease. In treating PKD, we must control the cysts growing, protect the surviving nephrons and recover renal functions.

Is There a Cure for Polycystic Kidney Disease?

Controlling the cysts growing

With genetic flaw, urine tends to be blocked in the joint of kidney tubules and renal collecting ducts. As there is interspace between its epithelial cells and its wall, the blocked urine will cause cysts and the epithelial cells of cysts secrete fluid into the cysts. The cysts are growing. So in order to control their size, we must promote fluid in cysts drain out and prevent the epithelial cells of cysts secreting fluid into cysts. Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy has those functions. By external application, the effective medicines will arrive at the lesion and inactivate the cells of cysts, achieving the goal of restraining fluid secreting. Though promoting blood circulation and increasing the permeability of capillaries on the surface of cysts, internal fluid will drain out along with urine. The balance of those two courses keep the cysts in a benign situation that they never get bigger.

Protect the surviving nephrons

After the cysts are controlled, the stressed renal tissues by cysts are released and the blood flow in them become smooth, which greatly improve the lack of blood and oxygen in kidneys. It is Micro-Chinese Medicine Osmotherapy that dredges microcirculation and improve internal environment. Provided with enough nutrients, the surviving nephrons can work well in the relative mild environment.