Renal Dialysis
Healthy kidneys regulate the body's internal environment of water and salts and excrete the end products of the body's metabolic activities and excess water (as urine). Dialysis is a process of removing waste products and excess fluid which build up in the body when the kidneys stop working. The word comes from the Greek 'dia' - to pass through, and 'leuin' meaning to loosen.
Normally, the human body has two kidneys, oval-shaped organs located at the back on the right and left side and partly covered by the lower ribs. In an average adult these organs are approximately four to six inches long and weigh a little over five ounces each.
Each kidney is comprised of about one million units called nephrons, with each nephron consisting of a tube-like structure called a tubule. The closed end of the tubule forms a cup-shaped structure called a glomerular capsule, surrounding a network of tiny blood vessels called the glomerulus, which filters the blood. Filtrate drains into the tubule where its concentration is altered to form urine which flows through ureters to the bladder and is stored there until being eliminated from the body through the urethra.
