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GCSE Biology · key term
A condition in which the kidneys cannot remove enough urea or regulate water and ion levels effectively.
Used by AQA and Edexcel
Specification 4.5.3.3 · Paper 2
Revise: Treating Kidney Failure: Dialysis and TransplantsIn kidney failure, these jobs are no longer carried out effectively. Urea accumulates, while water and ion concentrations can move away from safe levels. This disrupts the stable internal conditions needed for cells to function and can be fatal without treatment.
Specification 7.21B · Paper 2
A condition in which the kidneys can no longer remove enough waste substances, such as urea, from the blood or regulate its water content adequately.
Do not say dialysis cures kidney failure: it removes wastes from the blood, but treatment must be repeated.
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In kidney failure, they can no longer do this sufficiently. Wastes may build up and water balance may be disturbed. Two treatments are dialysis, which does some of the kidneys' filtering work, and a kidney transplant, which provides a working kidney from a donor.