Video Transcript
Which of the following correctly
compares the cost of the two main methods of treating kidney failure? (A) In the long term, keeping a
person on dialysis is cheaper. (B) In the long term, kidney
transplants are cheaper. Or (C) there is no significant
difference between the cost of the two treatments.
For a patient with kidney failure,
there are two main treatment options: dialysis or a kidney transplant. Both of these methods of treatment
have several benefits and can provide a patient with an extended life
expectancy.
In dialysis, the patient’s blood is
removed from their body and passed through a dialysis machine. The dialysis machine behaves like
an artificial kidney, filtering the waste products out of the blood. The cleansed blood is then returned
to the patient’s body. Since the dialysis machine is an
external setup, this process must be performed about three times a week for the rest
of the patient’s life to remain healthy.
A kidney transplant involves
removing a kidney from a healthy donor and implanting it in the patient through
surgery. The existing kidneys are usually
not removed, so the recipient of a kidney transplant may have three kidneys in their
body. The kidney transplant is a one-time
surgical procedure that provides the patient with a healthy kidney which will
function normally for years. However, this process is not always
possible, as it requires a healthy person with the right blood group and tissue type
to be willing to donate a kidney.
When considering the options for
the treatment of kidney failure, it is important to take the overall cost of the
treatment into account. Both of these treatments can extend
a patient’s life by several years. In the long term, however, it is
more expensive for a patient to have to undergo dialysis three times a week for the
rest of their life than it is to receive a kidney transplant, which is just a
one-time procedure.
The answer option that correctly
compares the cost of the two main methods of treating kidney failure is therefore
option (B). In the long term, kidney
transplants are cheaper.
