As a medical professional, I can tell you that the human body can adapt to a certain degree of kidney impairment. However, if kidney function drops to the point where the kidneys are no longer able to filter waste and excess fluids effectively, the body can no longer maintain a healthy balance of chemicals and toxins will begin to accumulate. Under normal circumstances, the body can manage with a single kidney if the other is removed or non-functional. This is because the remaining kidney can increase its workload to compensate for the loss. However, if both kidneys fail or are removed, and there is no other form of support, the body cannot survive for long. Dialysis is a treatment that replicates the function of the kidneys by filtering the blood of a person with kidney failure. It is a life-sustaining procedure for those who cannot undergo a kidney transplant or whose body cannot support a transplant. Without dialysis or a kidney transplant, a person with no kidney function would not be able to survive for more than a few weeks. The buildup of waste products and fluid in the body would lead to a condition called uremia, which is life-threatening. read more >>

Most people can maintain normal filtering in their kidneys even if they have lost 90% of kidney function. ... However, once that point is reached it would not be possible to survive more than a couple of weeks without undergoing dialysis or a kidney transplant.read more >>