Plural of hemodialysis; medical procedures where a machine filters waste products and excess water from the blood when kidneys don't work properly.
From Greek 'haima' (blood) + 'dia' (through) + 'lysis' (loosening/breaking). The term emerged in the 1940s as kidney disease treatment technology developed, combining Greek roots to describe the separation of blood components through a membrane.
During World War II, Willem Kolff invented the first practical kidney dialysis machine using cellophane tubing and a rotating drum—suddenly, people with complete kidney failure could survive instead of facing certain death. Today, millions of people on dialysis owe their lives to understanding how you can clean blood outside the body.
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