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Treatment

If your kidneys stop working well enough, there are two main treatments: dialysis and transplant. Both are explained here, along with how organ donation works in the UAE.

Dialysis

The two main types

Dialysis does some of the work your kidneys can no longer do. It is not a cure, but many people live full lives on it for years.

Haemodialysis

Your blood is passed through a machine that filters it, then returned to you. It is usually done at a dialysis centre, three times a week, for around four hours a session.

Peritoneal dialysis

A soft tube in your abdomen lets a cleaning fluid draw waste out through the lining of your belly. It is done at home, either by hand during the day or by a machine overnight.

People on dialysis work, travel and raise families. Your team will talk with you about diet, fluid, medicines and how to fit treatment around your life.

[patient story and local service information pending]

Transplant

How a kidney transplant works

A transplant gives you a working kidney from another person. For many people it offers a better quality of life than long-term dialysis.

Where the kidney comes from

A kidney can come from a living donor, often a family member, or from someone who has died and whose family has agreed to donation.

The operation

The new kidney is placed in your lower abdomen. Your own kidneys are usually left where they are.

Afterwards

You take medicines every day to stop your body rejecting the new kidney, and you attend regular clinic appointments. Taking these medicines exactly as prescribed matters a great deal.

Kidney transplantation has been performed in the UAE since 1985, and national transplant services are coordinated under UAE law and the national donation programme.

[transplant centre and referral pathway information pending]

Organ donation

How donation works

One donated kidney can take someone off dialysis. Understanding how donation works, and talking about it with your family, makes a real difference.

Living donation

A healthy person can donate one kidney and continue to live normally with the other. Donors are assessed carefully, medically and psychologically, before anything goes ahead.

Deceased donation

Organs can be donated after death, with the agreement of the family, through the national programme.

Registering your wishes

Telling your family what you want is the single most useful thing you can do. Registration in the UAE is handled through the national donation programme.
[national programme registration details and links pending]

This information is general. It does not replace advice from your own doctor. If you are worried about your kidneys, speak to a healthcare professional.

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