Glossary

A condition in which the body does not contain enough water to function properly.

The filtering unit of a dialysis machine. It removes body wastes and excess water from the blood in a similar way to a kidney.

An artificial process by which the toxic waste products of food and excess water are removed from the body. Dialysis therefore takes over some of the work normally performed by healthy kidneys. The name dialysis comes from a Greek word meaning ‘to separate’ – i.e., to separate out the ‘bad things’ in the blood from the ‘good things’. The two major forms of dialysis are hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis.

The fluid that provides the ‘container’ into which toxic waste products and excess water pass during peritoneal dialysis for removal from the body.

The medical name for water tablets. These drugs increase the amount of urine that is passed.  Examples include furosemide and spironolactone.

Daytime wetting.

A type of nuclear medicine scan used to assess or renal scarring or to compare the function of one kidney to the other.  A dye with a radio-active label is injected into a vein.  After 4-6 hours, the scanning takes place.

Emtpy the bladder a second time a few minutes after emptying for a first time. 

In peritoneal dialysis the amount of time a bag of dialysis solution remains in the patient's abdominal cavity during an exchange.

A type of bladder emptying problem in which the bladder muscle contracting and sphincter relaxing are not co-ordinated.

Means abnormal tissue development.  Dysplastic kidneys are kidneys which have not formed properly.