Ideally, a kidney transplant should be preemptive, i.e., take place before the patient begins dialysis.

The type of dialysis you have may sometimes depend on how quickly you need to begin dialysis.

But the worst outlook was for diabetics, the group that comprises the largest number of people 55 and older who begin dialysis each year.

For these groups, 34 percent who began dialysis at age 55 to 64 were alive five years later, as were 6.1 percent of those 80 and older.

Your intake of the B vitamins and vitamin C is usually adequate unless you begin dialysis.

You will need to have a catheter placed in your belly (dialysis access) before you begin dialysis.

Before you can begin peritoneal dialysis, a surgeon needs to place a catheter in your belly to create the dialysis access.

When to begin dialysis or have a kidney transplant.

In the meantime, Joshua began daily dialysis at home.

By the fall of 2002, his kidneys could no longer function and he began dialysis.