Health encyclopaedia - Alphabetical Topic List

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Why should it be done? of Kidney transplant

There is some evidence that people with successful kidney transplants live longer than if they were having dialysis treatment, but the main advantage of a kidney transplant is that the quality of life is much better than on dialysis.

Dialysis is uncomfortable, has some risks, and is disruptive to people’s lifestyles. Although a major operation has its risks, once success is definite, the person is much freer to get on with a normal life than if staying on dialysis.

Causes of kidney failure requiring a kidney transplant include:

  • Late effects of the kidney inflammation glomerulonephritis (see article on Glomerulonephritis)
  • The kidney infection pyelonephritis (see article on Pyelonephritis)
  • Polycystic kidney disease: inherited condition in which both kidneys are several times the normal size because of masses of cysts which gradually grow
  • Nephrosclerosis: hardening of the kidneys from disease of the arteries
  • The failure of normal kidney development in an unborn baby while developing in the womb (congenital)
  • Kidney damage caused by diabetes
  • Systemic lupus erythematosus: a disease of the immune system where the body attacks the kidney as though it were foreign tissue (see article on Lupus erythematosus)