Purpose of Kidney Dialysis

Dialysis is a medical treatment prescribed for people with temporary or permanent kidney failure. Most patients have treatment lasting three to four hours three times a week, but increasingly, people are going in for overnight treatments three times a week. The overnight treatment reduces the risk of death for kidney patients by 78 percent, as reported by "Science Daily" in 2008.

End Stage Renal Disease

When people have end stage renal disease, their kidneys cannot properly remove fluids and waste material from the body, or maintain levels of kidney-regulated chemicals, such as electrolytes.

Most Common Purpose

The most common purpose of dialysis is to allow people with permanent kidney failure to stay alive and live as normal lives as possible.

Temporary Failure

Another essential purpose of dialysis is treating patients with temporary kidney failure due to illness or infection.

Additional Purpose

Kidney dialysis also can help people who have been poisoned or have taken an overdose of drugs, by removing these substances from the blood.

Transplant Wait

Many people having dialysis treatments are on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. Dialysis keeps these people alive during their wait, which varies depending on the patient and the medical center. Froedtert and The Medical College of Wisconsin, for instance, said in 2007 that the wait could range from one month to five years.