Present in left and right sides of the body invertebrate, at the back of the abdominal cavity, kidneys are the two bean-shaped organs. These 11-centimeter-long organs are attached to a ureter, a tube that carries excreted urine to the bladder. Generally, humans can live normally with just one kidney but when the amount of their tissues is greatly diminished, renal replacement therapy seems like the only option. May such patients from foreign countries choose to travel for a kidney transplant in India as it restores their health at an affordable price, and with full safety?
When is a kidney transplant required?
Nephrons are the structural and functional units of the kidney and when they are damaged, the filtering abilities of kidneys is lost. This means high amounts of life-threatening waste products and chemicals will keep accumulating in the body. When the kidneys have lost around 90% of their filtering ability, the person is said to have reached the end-stage kidney disease. Kidney transplant comes as a handy option! But there are certain conditions when even due to kidney failure, a kidney transplant cannot be used. These chronic conditions include patients with widespread cancer, an active infection, liver or heart disease, or AIDS.
Causes of end-stage kidney disease
Although there are many causes for end-stage kidney disease, the major ones noticed are diabetes, high blood pressure or hypertension, blockages in the arteries, polycystic kidney disease, congenital problems in the development of kidneys, and disease of the immunity.
Pros of availing kidney transplant in India
Freedom and Quality of Life: Freedom of movement is the basic requirement from the body and kidney transplant offers immediate freedom to move, do what you like, and live a normal life. Whereas, if the patient is put on dialysis, he or she has to maintain a fixed schedule of weekly dialysis and each session takes a giant time frame of 4 hours. Once on dialysis, the patient remains in an immobile state. Whereas after receiving a renal transplant in India, the patients are free to move and have to come to the hospital, only for regular check-ups, which minimizes to once in 2 months shortly after the treatment. Also, dependence on family members reduces significantly.
Costs: Although right on the surface, kidney transplant in India seems like a huge investment as compared to dialysis on a careful look, one will find that he has actually saved a lot of money on his health. Dialysis involves paying small amounts but at frequent intervals, hence it seems like it is not pinching his pocket. But with compromised quality of life, dialysis actually requires spending more money than the transplant at the end of the second year.
Survival Rates: It is said that the risk for a 30-year-old patient on dialysis is equivalent to that of an 80 years old normal man. The mortality rate for the patient on dialysis increases this much due to several cardiac causes. But if the patient decides to go for a renal transplant, the risk of cardiac issues drastically reduces.
Thus, we can say that kidney transplant definitely offers a better survival advantage for patients with end-stage kidney disease. Traveling to India for a kidney transplant is thus definitely a safe and fair option!
