Dialysis - yes or no for an elderly being who have diabetes?

My grandmother, who is 86 years old, has been told by her specialist that she should start thinking just about whether she wants to pursue dialysis treatment or not. Because of diabetes, she is rapidly reaching the point at which her kidneys will fail completely and so the preference was presented to her. Now I've seen many casing studies and reports stating that those with comorbid diseases (like diabetes, anemia, etc.) don't have a significant improvement on dialysis and that to put elderly ethnic group on this treatment is a drain on the economy and not worth the trouble. On the other hand, there are pretty a few who have stated that with innovations in dialysis and transference as well as proper maintenance of comorbid diseases many symptoms can be superior and that good quality of life can be maintain on dialysis even in these patients. I'm curious if anybody can offer some more insight into dialysis for elderly people next to diseases or point to some more literature on the subject. Thanks.
Answers:     Economy is not a factor in any case reports or studies that are medical .It is only financial reports and studies that suggest that someone is not "worth' treating. I wonder what the economic reports and studies say that a minute of human life is worth. It may not be a great notion to tell your grandmother that you have seen reports that speak that treating her kidney failure is too much of a drain on the economy and it probably won't work anyway.I would not tell your mother any.It won't cost anything to keep this information to yourself anyway.This way of thinking can quickly turn comorbid.Yes to dialysis, simply maybe she might outlive the people who have written these studies and reports. Source(s): www.humancompassion.com
Without dialysis she will die rather at the double as all the body's waste products have no track to get out. That's a horrible way to die.
What bizarre logic!! If the woman's kidneys are failing then she wants dialysis! She can still live a decent life and get dialsysis at matching time.
I think we should take economics out of the equation here.

I think that how your grandmother feel about it is the #1 factor to think of here. Is she overall in unpromising health? I was on dialysis myself and saw lots of very senior citizens near. Some were very sick, and I wondered why they kept at it. Others seemed to do awfully well.
uld say to try it - if she's ok with it, and think through what happens if she does not go. Or she could start, and if it makes everything worse and she is constantly miserable, she can stop. I will tag on that she could start and may temporarily feel bad until it starts working.

FYI, I did very powerfully on dialysis. I had been for my 2 mile walk the hours of darkness I got called for my transplant. I was a Type I diabetic and I did hold significant improvement on dialysis.

I recommend the message boards and info at kidney.org. I hope you can find someone in your situation who can tell you more. Your grandmother is fortunate to hold someone who cares about her as you do.


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