Q: My father is suffering from a kidney problem. His serum creatinine is 7.2 mg/dl and blood urea is 140mg/dl. His blood pressure is at 180/90mm of Hg for the past four months. He is taking Amlopres 5 mg BD, Minipress 5 mg, and Torsinex 20 ml BD. I want to know whether or not he needs dialysis? Our doctor has advised that dialysis is needed when the creatinine level reaches up to 10.

A:Your father has advanced kidney failure and he will require dialysis when creatinine clearance is 10 ml/min (kidney function is about 10 % or less or when patient starts developing symptoms of excess waste products (called uremia in medical terminology) like nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite. If a patient is losing weight & not eating well & there is no other medical reason for this then he should also start dialysis even when serum creatinine is less than 10. The purpose of dialysis is to cleanse the blood of waste products as well as keep the health of the patient optimal. He should continue medicines as advised & be under a regular follow up of a nephrologist.