To donate a kidney is a giant act of generosity. Living kidney donors must go through a serious surgery and recovery, which is not easy for everyone. One type of kidney removal surgery may make donors happier.

Both dialysis and kidney transplantation can save the lives of patients with chronic kidney disease. But dialysis patients may feel differently than transplant patients about their quality of life.

Kidney transplant patients are at risk of infection, mainly because of the drugs they take after surgery. These patients often get treatment to prevent infection before the symptoms set in.

A transplant is a kidney failure patient's best chance at living a long life. Sadly, there are not enough kidneys to go around, even with living kidney donation. Transplant costs may play a role in this shortage.

Besides transplant, dialysis is the only way to keep a kidney failure patient alive. While dialysis may be lifesaving, it can lead to infection. Luckily, there are drugs to treat such infections.

Rates of kidney failure are on the rise, which could lead to more people in poor health and higher health care costs. To stop these possible problems, we need to better understand our risk of kidney failure.

Kidney transplants save lives. But the time it takes to get a new kidney is sometimes the difference between life and death. For some patients, the long wait means more time on dialysis, upping the chance of complications.

When kidney failure patients are waiting for a transplant, they are put on dialysis. While dialysis replaces the function of the kidneys, it is not a permanent fix. Over time, dialysis patients may face serious problems.

In people with end-stage renal disease, the kidneys have completely or almost completely stopped working. Keeping these patients alive requires dialysis or a kidney transplant.

When patients are awaiting a life-saving kidney or liver transplant, their failing organs are not the only thing they need to worry about; many of these patients also have heart problems.