Kidney Disease

Doctors at the CRCA specialize in the treatment and management of kidney diseases related to:

• Chronic Kidney Disease
• Diabetes
• Dialysis
• Electrolyte Abnormalities
• High Blood Pressure
• Kidney Stones
• Kidney Transplants

 

About Kidney Disease

• Kidney disease is a silent killer. One in nine American adults have kidney disease and most of them don’t even know about it.

• 30 million American adults have chronic kidney disease.

• Chronic kidney disease causes damage to kidneys and decreases their ability to keep the body in balance.

• There are five stages of kidney disease, when a patient reaches stage five they will require dialysis or organ transplant.

 

What is Dialysis?

• Dialysis is a life sustaining clinical purification of the blood as a substitute for the normal function of the kidney.

• Dialysis removes waste to prevent build up in the body, keeps a safe level of chemicals such as potassium and sodium, and helps to control blood pressure.

• Dialysis is needed at the end stage of kidney failure when 85-90 percent of kidney function has been lost.

• There are two different types of dialysis: hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.

 

A Dialysis Center Like No Other

At the CRCA, we wanted to change the “white coat syndrome” and offer a calming spa-like experience for our dialysis patients. The chairs in our facility were designed by Drs. Fahim and Naeem Rahim through careful research and feedback from patients and are handmade in the United States. Their belief is that time spent in dialysis should be of the utmost comfort.

 

[Videos are being developed that will be housed on this webpage showing a 360 degree video of the chairs, highlighting their unique and forward-thinking design advancements. “Take a 360 degree tour of our dialysis rooms.”]

 

At-Home Dialysis

At CRCA, we offer the future of dialysis with at-home dialysis options. Our patients can receive training to complete their dialysis in the comfort of their own home. At home, patients may be better able to fit your treatments into your daily schedule. Studies show that the more you know about your treatment and the more you do on your own, the better you are likely to do on dialysis.

There are three different at home dialysis options including a nocturnal home hemodialysis which consists of long slow treatments done while the patient sleeps. Many reports state that people using short daily and nocturnal home hemodialysis take less medication to control blood pressure and anemia, less medication to prevent bone disease, have improvements in nerve damage, have more energy, sleep better, have fewer and shorter hospital stays, a better quality of life, and live longer.

 

History of Dialysis

• Willem Kolff is considered the father of dialysis, and constructed the first dialyzer (artificial kidney) in 1943.

• Belding Scribner created the shunts that make modern dialysis possible, by using tubes connected to an artery and a vein.

• In 1962, Scribner started the world’s first outpatient dialysis facility.