GLOSSARY

Chronic kidney disease (CKD, Kidney failure): The inability of the kidneys to excrete wastes, concentrate urine, and conserve electroytes in order to maintain the body's equilibrium. Kidney failure causes rapid accumulation of nitrogenous wastes in the blood. This condition can be acute-sudden but potentially reversible, or chronic-gradual, with few signs and symptoms in the early stages and irreversible.

Kidney: One of a pair of bean-shaped organs located in the posterior abdomen, one on each side of the spine. Each kidney is composed of more than one million nephrons that filter blood under high pressure, removing urea, salts, and other soluble wastes from the blood and returning the purified filtrate to the bloodstream. The kidneys process more than 2,500 pints of blood per day. The kidneys also produce the hormone EPO.

Kidney transplant (or transplantation): A process by which a donor supplies a healthy kidney to a recipient who has kidney failure. The non-functional kidneys remain in the body after the transplant, leaving the recipient with three kidneys.