Patients Diabetes (Type 2)
What is diabetic nephropathy?
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Margarita_k
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Margarita_k
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Last activity on 07/10/2020 at 11:39
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Nephropathy means kidney disease or damage. It is a serious kidney-related complication of type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes, and in severe cases it can lead to kidney failure. Up to 40 percent of people with diabetes eventually develop kidney disease.
Diabetic nephropathy affects the ability of your kidneys to do their usual work of removing waste products and extra fluid from your body.
What causes diabetic nephropathy?
The kidneys have many tiny blood vessels that filter waste from your blood. High blood sugar from diabetes can destroy these blood vessels.
Over many years, the condition slowly damages your kidneys' delicate filtering system.
Your kidney disease may progress to kidney failure, also called end-stage kidney disease. Kidney failure is a life-threatening condition. At this stage your treatment options are dialysis or a kidney transplant.
Certain things make you more likely to get diabetic nephropathy. If you also have high blood pressure or high cholesterol, or if you smoke, your risk is higher.
The best way to prevent or delay diabetic nephropathy is by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and treating your diabetes and high blood pressure.
What are the symptoms of diabetic nephropathy?
There are no symptoms in the early stages. So it's important to have regular urine tests to find kidney damage early. Sometimes early kidney damage can be reversed.
As your kidneys are less able to do their job, you may notice swelling in your body, most often in your feet and legs. Other symptoms may include:
- Worsening blood pressure control
- Protein in the urine
- Increased need to urinate
- Less need for insulin or diabetes medicine
- Confusion or difficulty concentrating
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Persistent itching
- Fatigue
The best way to prevent or delay diabetic nephropathy is by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and treating your diabetes and high blood pressure.
Sources: webmd.com, mayoclinic.org, ncbi.nlm.nih.gov.
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Do you or a diabetes patient you care for has diabetic nephropathy?