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Kidney Dialysis Machine

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The University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia has a kidney dialysis machine which can serve the functions of a healthy kidney for patients with kidney disease. Kidney disease occurs when the organ no longer functions and waste products begin to build up within the body. This disease can lead to anemia, high blood pressure, and nerve damage. In the process of kidney dialysis, there are catheters which are connected to veins through a vein graft which is attached to the tubes of the dialysis machine. In essence, blood is simply being pumped into the machine where waste products are filtered out. Then the ‘clean’ blood is pumped back into our body through a vein graft. There are ten possible candidates with chronic kidney disease who could potentially be granted access to the kidney dialysis machine. There are only two time slots, so the candidates will be assessed according to condition and other factors as to who is allowed to use the machine. I believe that Steve should be one of the two patients who is granted access to …show more content…

On the contrary, he has been sober for the past three years and wishes to do everything and anything necessary to fight the disease. Alcohol, while linked to, is not the only cause of chronic kidney disease amongst patients. In fact, the leading cause of death for all people with chronic kidney disease is actually heart disease. Heart disease is actually more common in people of African-American or Hispanic ethnicity, putting Steve, a caucasian male, at a lower risk for cardiovascular diseases. This being said, Steve would have better odds of surviving the duration of the disease, as he is less prone to risks of heart disease (“Race and Ethnicity”). If a patient is on the dialysis treatment but dies of heart disease, it is almost a waste of time in which another patient not at risk for heart disease could have been receiving

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