Home dialysis 'has numerous benefits'

New home hemodialysis systems are making it easier than ever for kidney disease patients to use the technology at home.

For many, the prospect of going in to hospital several times a week - for three of four hours at a time - to get dialysis is not an appealing one.

The process sees blood transferred from a person's body into a machine, which filters out waste products and excess fluids.

However, a review in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology has found that technological improvements mean it is now simpler for people to learn how to use and maintain hemodialysis machines at home.

Rajnish Mehrotra from the University of Washington, Seattle said: "There is virtually no other disease that requires patients to make such considerable changes in their lifestyle as a diagnosis of end-stage renal disease and the need for dialysis therapy does."

With around two million patients in the world receiving some sort of dialysis treatment, there could be tangible health improvements if people are able to administer the treatment in their own house.

Find the nearest Barchester care home