Diabetic Kidney Disease
The kidneys filter your blood and dispose of the body's waste in your urine, relying on millions of blood vessels to do it. Diabetes can damage these small blood vessels, making it hard for the kidneys to filter your body's wastes very well.
As a result, diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure.1 About 30 percent of people with type 1 diabetes and 10 to 40 percent of those with type 2 diabetes will eventually have kidney disease, or nephropathy.2
If you do not have well-controlled blood sugar, if you smoke, or if you have high blood pressure, you may be at increased risk of kidney disease. You may also be at increased risk if you have a family member with kidney disease.2
Detecting Diabetic Nephropathy
While there aren't early symptoms of kidney damage, it can be detected by tests at your doctor's office.
Your doctor will check your urine for a protein called albumin. This screening allows you to detect nephropathy in its early stages, when treatment can slow or even prevent progression of the disease. If you have diabetes and are between ages 12 and 70, you should have a urine protein test at least once a year.3
Prevention and Care
- Keep your blood sugar levels close to normal range. Discuss your target range with your diabetes care team.
- Lower your blood pressure if it's high. Discuss your normal range and how to treat high blood pressure with your healthcare team. There are medications available, such as ACE inhibitors, that can effectively lower blood pressure and also protect the kidneys. A blood pressure reading below 120/80 mm Hg is considered optimal for adults. A reading of 140/90 or higher is considered high and will likely be addressed by your doctor.4
- Work to reduce the protein in your urine. If you have protein in your urine, discuss how to treat it—with medication or limiting protein in your meals—with your healthcare team.
- Finally, stop smoking. Smoking increases your risk of kidney damage.
1
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "National Diabetes Fact Sheet." Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/pdf/ndfs_2005.pdf. Accessed March 24, 2008.
2
National Kidney Foundation. "Diabetes and Kidney Disease." Available at: http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=37. Accessed March 24, 2008.
3
National Kidney Foundation, "Microalbuminuria in Diabetic Kidney Disease." Available at: http://www.kidney.org/news/newsroom/fsitem.cfm?id=14. Accessed March 24, 2008.
4
National Institutes of Health. "What Is High Blood Pressure?" Available at: http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/dci/Diseases/Hbp/HBP_WhatIs.html. Accessed March 24, 2008.