There has been significant improvement in organ transplants with improved surgical methods. This has also become an essential way of treating organ failure among human beings worldwide. The primary sources of organs are dead donors, especially after brain death. Additionally, there are other significant sources of organs, such as live donations and non-heart-beating donors (Beyar,2011). Despite the increased and advanced pharmacologic, surgical techniques and progress in medical services, organ shortage is a global challenge that needs to be addressed. This specific field involves society beliefs, medical ethics, and religious beliefs. There are critical issues that need interference, such as the payment for human organs, organ trafficking, and the complicated balance of the live donations regarding the benefits or the recipient and possible harm to the donor. An increase in kidney failure leads to the need for an organ transplant, kidney rejection, diabetes, cancer, Immunosuppressant effects, and complications after surgery.
Causes of Kidney Failure
Diabetes
Diabetes is a major cause of kidney failure. It is serious infection transpires when the body does not produce adequate insulin or cannot use it. Insulin is a significant hormone that controls the amount of sugar in a person’s blood. An increase in blood sugar levels negatively impacts several parts of the human body (Shahbazian & Rezaii, 2013). Kidneys have a significant role in the human body, such as balancing body fluids, removing wastes from the body, making red blood cells, and keeping bones healthy. Diabetes damages kidneys to the extent that they cannot filter human blood as well as doing other significant jobs. Diabetes damages the blood vessels in the kidney. The kidney has filtering units, and when the blood sugar levels are high, the vessels become narrow and get clogged. When a person has insufficient blood, the kidney gets damaged, allowing albumin to pass via the kidney filters, which ends up in the urine where it is not supposed to be. At the same time, various nerves in the human body get damaged by diabetes. The primary goal of nerves in the human body is to connect the brain and other organs of the human body. The nerves signal the brain when so that a person can urinate when the bladder is full. However, when the nerves in the bladder are injured, an individual may not know when the bladder is full (Shahbazian & Rezaii, 2013). Therefore, the pressure from the bladder ends up damaging the kidney. Additionally, diabetes also results in urinary tract infection when the urine stays for long in the urinary tract. The infection arises from the bacteria in the urine that has high sugar levels and multiplies quickly. Sometimes these infections affect the bladder, but in the long run, they affect the kidney. Since diabetes causes kidney failure, a kidney transplant is the only possible solution to help the patient live for long.
High Blood Pressure
When the heart pumps blood, a force known as blood pressure is created as the blood is being pushed against the blood vessels. High blood pressure is the amount of power that the blood exacts on the blood vessels as it moves to different parts of the body. High blood pressure causes kidney failure and eventually kidney transplant when the nephrons in the kidney with numerous blood vessels cannot withstand high blood pressure forcing them to weaken or harden (Appel et al., 2010). When the arteries get damaged, they are unable to deliver sufficient blood to the kidney tissues. When the blood arteries in the kidney get damaged, it becomes challenging for them to filter blood. Nephrons are fingerlike that filter blood, and they receive blood from capillaries which are the smallest blood vessels. Since the arteries and the nephrons work hand in hand, there is no sufficient oxygen in the nephrons when the arteries get damaged. Therefore, the kidney loses its ability to filter blood resulting in kidney failure and eventually a kidney transplant. Moreover, damaged kidneys are unable to regulate blood pressure. Aldosterone hormone gets produced by healthy kidneys to regulate blood pressure. Hence when the kidney gets damaged, and the blood pressure is uncontrolled, there is a negative spiral. When more arteries get damaged, the kidney starts failing, and eventually, a kidney transplant gets required to save the patient. Frequent follow-up is essential to determine whether a person has high blood pressure and takes the necessary precautions early.
Heart Disease
A person suffering from kidney disease has a high chance of developing heart disease. Heart disease is a major cause of death in people that have kidney problems. Therefore, it is significant to learn about heart and kidney diseases to stay healthy because they work together. The heart and the kidney work together in that the heart’s role is to pump blood, and the kidney is to filter the blood and extract wastes in the blood to the urine (Stats, 2017). The kidney also regulates sugar and salt levels in the blood, hence controlling blood pressure. Thus heart failure is an essential risk factor for kidney illnesses. When the heart has challenges in pumping blood, it becomes congested with blood increasing pressure in the veins connecting the heart and the kidneys, resulting in congestion in the kidney too. When the kidney gets damaged, the hormone system that controls blood pressure gets overloaded. It tries to increase the blood capacity in the kidneys, forcing the heart to pump at high pressure affecting the arteries, resulting in kidney failure.
Effects of Kidney Transplant
Kidney Rejection
The body rejecting the new kidney is one of the risk factors of a kidney transplant. This happens when a person’s immune system realizes that the kidney belongs to someone else. At the same time, the new kidney can stop working overtime. To prevent kidney rejection, a person takes medications that weaken the immune system (Coemans et al., 2018). According to the doctor’s advice, a patient should take the kidney rejection medication because if a person misses taking the drug, they risk losing the new kidney. On the other hand, anti-rejection medications have side effects.
One of the primary effects is the risk of getting infections because of decreased immunity strength. After a kidney transplant, there are two types of kidney rejection. The first one is acute rejection which takes place three to six months after the transplant. Many patients who undergo kidney transplants exhibit acute kidney rejection episodes indicating the body is actively fighting the new organ (Coemans et al., 2018). The second one is the chronic rejection that occurs slowly over the years after a person has been given the transplant. In this type of rejection, the new organ may stop working because the immune system is constantly fighting it. However, kidney rejection does not mean that the new organ will because anti-rejection medications can help treat the problem.
Cancer
Cancer is the primary cause of death of patients that have had kidney transplants. The main factors that result in increased cancer risks after the transplant are patient, transplant, and medication (Sodemann et al., 2011). There has been an increase in increased cancer rates in patients that have received kidney transplants compared to the general population. However, the risk is not spread evenly over all types of cancers. There are those incidences that are increased substantially and those that are not increased. Therefore, cancer deaths in patients with kidney transplants are higher than cancer in the general population. Anti-rejection medications get considered the most significant risk factors because they decrease the body’s immune system.
Immunosuppressant Effects
Everyone that undergoes a kidney transplant has to take these anti-rejection medications because they reduce the capability of the body to reject the new kidney. Induction and maintenance medications are the two types of immunosuppressants. Induction drugs are excellent drugs utilized when the transplant is being fitted, while maintenance medications are for long-term use after the transplant. Since the body can reject the foreign organ, anti-rejection medicines help minimize the effects (Breda et al., 2019). One of the significant side effects of these anti-rejection medications is the high possibility of getting diseases. It is a substantial challenge after the patient receives the organ because its dosage is high. Additionally, stomach upset is one of the common side effects of Immunosuppressant medication. When this happens, a patient must talk to the doctor to space the medication to help minimize the problem. After six months, the strength of the dosage is low, and the chance of developing effects is low too. The other side effects are nausea, vomiting, hand trembling, and lack of appetite.
Complications After Surgery
After a kidney transplant, the patient may experience a urinary blockage. Ureter the tube that drains urine from the kidney to the bladder may become narrow, blocking the urine from reaching the bladder. Furthermore, a person may experience urine leakage where the donor’s ureter joins the recipient’s bladder requiring surgery to fix the problem (Coemans et al., 2018). Like any surgery, after a kidney transplant, a person may experience bleeding inside the body, which may require blood transfusion and not an operation to stop the bleeding. Additionally, blood cells may stick together to form a clot in the patient’s body after the transplant; however, it is not often. These clots can form in the arteries or veins of the kidney, stopping the blood supply to the kidney. In case this happens, the patient has to go back for surgery. The patient may also develop deep vein thrombosis. It mostly occurs after surgery because there is a risk of blood clotting on the patient’s legs. To prevent deep vein thrombosis, the patient is given an injection to thin the blood and be required to wear unique stockings to assist in blood flow.
Conclusion
In conclusion, an increase in kidney failure has led to increased organ transplants, leading to complications in surgery, cancer, immunosuppressant effects, and kidney rejection. Improved surgical methods around the globe have led to improved treatment of kidney failure because patients can receive kidneys from donors and start living a normal life. However, despite the success rate in kidney transplants, ethical considerations require quick interference, such as payment for human organs and organ trafficking. Kidney failure has causes that may force an individual to require a transplant and effects of the transplants. The main genesis of kidney complications are high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart infections. Diabetes is a serious infection that takes place when the body does not produce enough insulin or cannot use it. Insulin is a significant hormone that controls the amount of sugar in a person’s blood. High blood constraint is the amount of power that the blood exacts on the blood vessels as it moves to different parts of the body. High blood pressure causes kidney failure and eventually kidney transplant when the nephrons in the kidney with numerous blood vessels cannot withstand high blood pressure forcing them to weaken or harden. Kidney rejection happens when a person’s immune system realizes that the kidney belongs to someone else. At the same time, the new kidney can stop working overtime. Finally, some factors that result in increased cancer risks after the transplant are patient, transplant, and medication.
