ANTI-REJECTION MEDICATIONS

After a kidney transplant, there is a risk of the recipient's body rejecting the donated kidney. This is because a person's immune system guards against all foreign matter. Tissues that come from someone else's body may be considered “foreign” and the body may trigger the immune system to attack this “invader.” In order to prevent this from happening, a kidney transplant recipient will need to take anti-rejection medications every day for the rest of their lives. Most patients take three types of medications for this purpose. If a rejection episode does occur, additional treatment will most likely be necessary. In addition, it may be necessary to take a variety of other medications depending on what pre-existing conditions, such as diabetes and hypertension, are present.

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