Chronic Kidney Failure: Anatomy, Physiology, Risk Factors, and Treatment Options

Running head: ASSESSMENT TASK TWO: CHRONIC KIDNEY FAILURE
Assessment Task Two: Chronic Kidney Failure
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ASSESSMENT TASK TWO: CHRONIC KIDNEY FAILURE 2
Assessment Task Two: Chronic Kidney Failure
Part I.
1.1. The Renal anatomy and physiology
The renal system comprises of the kidney, urinary bladder, ureters, and the urethra. The
primary functions of the renal system are to collect wastes from the body and let them out
through the urethra, to maintain fluid pressure in the body, and balance homeostatic processes
(Healthdirect, 2019). Renal anatomy is the general term for the study of the renal system and its
structures. The renal system, also called the renal system comprises of two kidneys whose main
function is to collect wastes carried in blood. Their role is to carry out the purification process of
the blood by removing electrolytes, urea, and other chemical compounds before releasing
purified blood back to the circulatory system. According to the National Kidney Foundation
(n.d.), each kidney is connected to ureters that collect urine and dispose it into the urinary blood
where it is held temporarily before it is released out of the body through the urethra. Purification
of blood takes place mainly in the nephron of the kidney. Hickling, Sun, and W (2015) explain
that each kidney has millions of nephrons that are responsible for removing the wastes from
blood. The two primary processes that take place in the kidney are renal blood flow and
glomerular filtration. These process maintain homeostatic pressure in the body.
1.2. Chronic renal failure, risk factors, complications, and treatment options
Even though the kidney is a vital organ in the renal system, it may undergo structural
changes that may be triggered by diseases to render it ineffective in performing its functions.
These changes mainly occur in nephrons where they are damaged gradually to the extent where
their decrease in number affects their ability to cope with the volume of blood that flows to them
for purification as discussed in Sands (2015). The damage done on nephrons is chronic and

ASSESSMENT TASK TWO: CHRONIC KIDNEY FAILURE 3
progressive, even though symptoms appear. Once the number of nephrons damaged has reached
the minimum required number, the kidney becomes unable to perform its function and the person
is said to be suffering from renal failure, also called end stage renal disease (ESRD). ESRD is
irreversible because the kidney has a limited ability to degenerate its cells.
Melanie is in the end stage of renal disease because of the gradual yet progressive
damage done on her kidney. The possible cause of this is either hypertension, diabetes, or too
much use of ibuprofen drugs. According to the case scenario, Melanie has been using ibuprofen
for twelve years each time she feels headache and the pain goes away. The case scenario also
shows that Melanie’s BP is 190/110. This is an indication of high blood pressure. High blood
pressure forces blood into the vital organs like the kidney and the liver. When blood is pumped
into the kidney under pressure, the nephrons are overworked and this can lead to their further
damage if they had already been destroyed. This is the case with Melanie’s condition.
Chronic renal failure cannot be cured, but Melanie has two treatment options to continue
living. The first treatment option is hemodialysis, where her blood is artificially purified by
pumping it through a dialysis machine. According to WebMD (2018), dialysis machines act like
temporary kidneys, but they do not perform all the functions that the active kidney used to
perform. The other treatment option is the kidney transplant, which includes complete removal
of her kidney and transfer of a new kidney from a donor. If Melanie undergoes kidney transplant,
she will not need the artificial dialysis because the new kidney will function like her previous
kidney, even though she needs to stay careful to avoid other complications.
Even though hemodialysis will help Melanie to live longer, there are complications that
may result from the use of this process. According to Davita Kidney Carre (2019), Melanie may
experience complications of anemia, fluid buildup, hypoglycemia, and heart diseases. Anemia is