3 ms·

Leaving aside that it's very early days for this technology, kidneys aren't all that flexible, either. Kidney swelling or inflammation is as painful as it is (a

Leaving aside that it's very early days for this technology, kidneys aren't all that flexible, either. Kidney swelling or inflammation is as painful as it is (and it is very painful) because the kidney is enclosed in a protective capsule of tough connective tissue, which makes it unable to increase significantly in total volume. (This is also why kidney swelling is a medical emergency, especially when bilateral and regardless of cause: in addition to being painful, severe swelling occludes blood vessels and causes tissue-killing ischemia, which can result in partial or total loss of function.) A kidney isn't all that different in length on the major axis from a smartphone, either, and in volume is larger besides. Speaking as someone with recurrent kidney trouble, if things do get bad enough and I can't get on the transplant list due to age or comorbidity, I'd rather take a chance on something like this than suffer the known drawbacks of periodic dialysis, especially the all but guaranteed progressive impairment of cognition.

felipemnoa 5y ago
>>especially the all but guaranteed progressive impairment of cognition Could you expand a bit more on this? What causes the impairment in cognition?
- throwanem 5y ago
  "Filtering the Evidence: Is There a Cognitive Cost of Hemodialysis?" (https://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/29/4/1087 https://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/29/4/1087) reviews recent research and finds cognitive impairment both significant and prevalent as a side effect of in-center hemodialysis (as opposed to peritoneal dialysis, which is less harmful). It cites among other things an RCT result entitled "Cognitive impairment in hemodialysis patients is common" (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16864811/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16864811/), which is frequently cited in studies and articles reviewing this phenomenon; the "Cited by" list on that page is a fertile ground for further review.
- michael1999 5y ago
  Dirty blood is toxic to many organs. The ears, eyes, and nose will all degrade along with the mind as kidneys fail. The worst is that dirty blood is toxic to the kidneys, so failing kidneys cause kidney failure.

felipemnoa 5y ago

>>especially the all but guaranteed progressive impairment of cognition Could you expand a bit more on this? What causes the impairment in cognition?

throwanem 5y ago
"Filtering the Evidence: Is There a Cognitive Cost of Hemodialysis?" (https://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/29/4/1087 https://jasn.asnjournals.org/content/29/4/1087) reviews recent research and finds cognitive impairment both significant and prevalent as a side effect of in-center hemodialysis (as opposed to peritoneal dialysis, which is less harmful). It cites among other things an RCT result entitled "Cognitive impairment in hemodialysis patients is common" (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16864811/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16864811/), which is frequently cited in studies and articles reviewing this phenomenon; the "Cited by" list on that page is a fertile ground for further review.
michael1999 5y ago
Dirty blood is toxic to many organs. The ears, eyes, and nose will all degrade along with the mind as kidneys fail. The worst is that dirty blood is toxic to the kidneys, so failing kidneys cause kidney failure.