End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) is the most serious form of kidney disease, in which approximately 80 percent of kidney function has failed. ESRD is life threatening and requires immediate treatment in order to remove toxins from the bloodstream and restore as much kidney function as possible.
As part of the body’s waste-removal system, healthy kidneys work primarily to clean the blood of wastes produced through food intake and metabolic function. Every hour of the day, blood travels from the heart to the kidneys for a "cleansing" process. Millions of tiny filters in the kidneys remove unwanted waste and extra fluid from the body. These unwanted wastes and excess fluid is excreted through the kidneys in the form of urine. Healthy kidneys also ensure that the body chemicals, or "electrolytes", are kept in balance. They also produce a hormone to regulate blood pressure, and another hormone to help bone marrow produce red blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body.
It is estimated that more than 1.2 million people worldwide suffer from end-stage renal disease (ESRD), a number that is growing at a rate of approximately six-to-seven percent annually. This growth is influenced in part by diseases associated with the aging population such as diabetes and high blood pressure, two leading causes of ESRD. Current treatment options for ESRD include peritoneal dialysis (PD), haemodialysis (HD) and kidney transplantation.
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