| 1 | Currently, transplants and dialysis are the only ways to treat kidney failure. | |
| 2 | But nowadays the fastest growing segment of the dialysis population are patients in their upper 70s and 80s. | |
| 3 | They are now enjoying free dialysis at the government' s expense, something almost unheard of in China. | |
| 4 | Without it, the patient will die or require dialysis for years, which is an expensive procedure and often out of reach of poorer patients. | |
| 5 | Scientists report today that artificial blood vessels made using a person's own skin cells work well in patients receiving kidney dialysis. |