For patients who deteriorate quickly, the focus of their care will be on slowing the disease and managing their symptoms. It can progress slowly in some patients and quickly in others. Kidney failure can affect patients in different ways. Share our information for patients, and their family and friends about palliative care. Patients on dialysis may also have palliative care.

This may include emotional support and palliative care. If a patient does not have dialysis, they will have care to manage their symptoms and improve their quality of life. started dialysis but their symptoms got worse.

started dialysis but it did not improve their quality of life.

have started dialysis but their health declined, so they're no longer well enough.

Find out more about dialysis from the NHS website. If someone is not well enough to have a kidney transplant, they can usually have dialysis.ĭialysis is a treatment where waste products and fluid are removed from the blood, either using a machine or, less commonly, using peritoneal dialysis which happens inside the body. This means either dialysis or a kidney transplant. Kidney failure can sometimes be managed with renal replacement therapy. Share our information for patients on managing symptoms when you have a terminal illness. It can cause similar symptoms to kidney failure, including tiredness and shortness of breath.

passing small amounts of urine or none at all.Īnaemia (a low number or quality of red blood cells) is common in people with kidney failure.

oedema (swelling), often in the feet and legs.

conditions which put the kidneys under strain, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes.

conditions which directly affect the kidneys, such as kidney infection.

Kidney failure is also known as established renal failure (ERF) or end-stage kidney disease.

regulate the amount of chemicals in the body.ĭamage to the kidneys may lead to kidney failure, which can affect these processes.

They filter the blood, removing excess water and waste products, which pass out of the body as urine.

Kidney issues symptoms