Difference between peritoneal dialysis and hemodialysis?

　　n medicine, hemodialysis (also haemodialysis) is a method for removing waste products such as potassium and urea, as well as free water from the blood when the kidneys are incapable of this (i.e. in renal failure). It is a form of renal dialysis and is therefore a renal replacement therapy.
　　In medicine, peritoneal dialysis is a method for removing waste such as urea and potassium from the blood, as well as excess fluid, when the kidneys are incapable of this (i.e. in renal failure). It is a form of renal dialysis, and is thus a renal replacement therapy.
　　Peritoneal dialysis:
　　Technique that uses the patient's own body tissues inside of the belly (abdominal cavity) to act as a filter. The intestines lie in the abdominal cavity, the space between the abdominal wall and the spine. A plastic tube called a "dialysis catheter" is placed through the abdominal wall into the abdominal cavity. A special fluid is then flushed into the abdominal cavity and washes around the intestines. The intestinal walls act as a filter between this fluid and the blood stream. By using different types of solutions, waste products and excess water can be removed from the body through this process.
　　Hemodialysis:
　　A medical procedure that uses a special machine (a dialysis machine) to filter waste products from the blood and to restore normal constituents to it. This shuffling of multiple substances is accomplished by virtue of the differences in the rates of their diffusion through a semipermeable membrane (a dialysis membrane).

　　Although hemodialysis may be done for acute kidney failure, it is more often employed for chronic renal disease. Hemodialysis is frequently done to treat end-stage kidney disease. Under such circumstances, kidney dialysis is typically administered using a fixed schedule of three times per week.

Has anyone been through peritoneal dialysis?

　　If you are going through with dialysis, it is not because it is a good idea. it is because you need it to live. The pro about dialysis is that it will filter out the waste product of your blood and you will live. there are lots of cons. they are:
　　1) it takes 3 to 5 hours for 1 session and you need to go to about 3 sessions per week. this impacts your social and work life.
　　2) dialysis can not replace a real kidney. there are some proteins that dialysis can not remove in your blood and in time they will build up causing health problems such as stiff/painful joints.
　　3) dialysis only extends your life while you wait for a transplant. People live around 10 years on dialysis because like i said dialysis can not replace a real kidney.
　　4) the tube used for dialysis creates a opening for bacteria to infect.
　　5) dialysis affects people mentally such as thoughts about ones attractiveness. It may reduce sex drive also because of this.

　　althought there are lots of cons about dialysis, the biggest pro is that dialysis can help you live longer.peritoneal dialysis is better than having the line inserted into the arm in my opinion. the vein that the line needs to be inserted into usually causes problems and people have to go to surgery to repair that vein.