1.What is Diabetic Nephropathy?
- Normal kidney vs. diseased kidney
- How the kidneys work
2.What are the Symptoms of Diabetic Nephropathy?
3.When to see a doctor?
4.What are the causes of Diabetic Nephropathy?
5.What are the Risk factors for Diabetic Nephropathy?
6.What are the Complications of Diabetic Nephropathy?
7.Can Diabetic Nephropathy be prevented?
1.What is Diabetic Nephropathy?
Diabetic nephropathy is a serious kidney-related complication of type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes. It is also called diabetic kidney disease. 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. The best way to prevent or delay diabetic nephropathy is by maintaining a healthy lifestyle and treating your diabetes and high blood pressure.
Over many years, the condition slowly damages your kidneys' delicate filtering system. Early treatment may prevent or slow disease progression and reduce the chance of complications.
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.
Normal kidney vs. diseased kidney
Diabetic nephropathy results when diabetes damages blood vessels and other cells in your kidneys.
How the kidneys work
Your kidneys contain millions of tiny blood vessel clusters (glomeruli) that filter waste from your blood. Severe damage to these blood vessels can lead to diabetic nephropathy, decreased kidney function and kidney failure.
2.What are the Symptoms of Diabetic Nephropathy?
In the early stages of diabetic nephropathy, you may not notice any signs or symptoms. In later stages, the signs and symptoms include:
- Worsening blood pressure control
- Protein in the urine
- Swelling of feet, ankles, hands or eyes
- Increased need to urinate
- Less need for insulin or diabetes medicine
- Confusion or difficulty concentrating
- Loss of appetite
- Nausea and vomiting
- Persistent itching
- Fatigue
3.When to see a doctor?
Make an appointment with your doctor if you have any signs or symptoms of kidney disease.
If you have diabetes, visit your doctor yearly for a urine test (urine microalbumin test) that detects protein. This helps determine how well the kidneys are functioning.
4.What are the causes of Diabetic Nephropathy?
Diabetic nephropathy is a common complication of diabetes, types 1 and 2.
Over time the high blood sugar associated with untreated diabetes causes high blood pressure. This in turn damages the kidneys by increasing the pressure in the delicate filtering system of the kidneys.
5.What are the Risk factors for Diabetic Nephropathy?
Several factors may increase your risk of diabetic nephropathy, including:
- Diabetes, type 1 or 2
- High blood sugar (hyperglycemia) that's difficult to control
- High blood pressure (hypertension) that's difficult to control
- Being a smoker and having diabetes
- High blood cholesterol and having diabetes
- A family history of diabetes and kidney disease
6.What are the Complications of Diabetic Nephropathy?
Complications of diabetic nephropathy may develop gradually over months or years. They may include:
- Fluid retention, which could lead to swelling in your arms and legs, high blood pressure, or fluid in your lungs (pulmonary edema)
- A sudden rise in potassium levels in your blood (hyperkalemia)
- Heart and blood vessel disease (cardiovascular disease), possibly leading to stroke
- Damage to the blood vessels of the retina (diabetic retinopathy)
- Anemia
- Foot sores, erectile dysfunction, diarrhea and other problems related to damaged nerves and blood vessels
- Pregnancy complications that carry risks for the mother and the developing fetus
- Irreversible damage to your kidneys (end-stage kidney disease), eventually requiring either dialysis or a kidney transplant for survival
7.Can Diabetic Nephropathy be prevented?
Yes, It can. To reduce your risk of developing diabetic kidney disease:
- Treat your diabetes.With effective treatment of diabetes, you may prevent or delay diabetic kidney disease.
- Manage high blood pressure or other medical conditions.If you have high blood pressure or other conditions that increase your risk of kidney disease, work with your doctor to control them. Ask your doctor about tests to look for signs of kidney damage.
- Consult your doctor before using pain relievers, such as aspirin, ibuprofen and acetaminophen (Tylenol, others), follow the instructions on the package. For people with diabetic kidney disease, taking these types of pain relievers can lead to kidney damage.
- Maintain a healthy weight.If you're at a healthy weight, work to maintain it by being physically active most days of the week. If you need to lose weight, talk with your doctor about strategies for weight loss. Often this involves increasing daily physical activity and reducing calories.
- Don't smoke. Cigarette smoking can damage your kidneys and make existing kidney damage worse. If you're a smoker, talk to your doctor about strategies for quitting smoking. Support groups, counseling and medications can all help you to stop.
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