Diabetic Kidney Disease (nephropathy)

Diabetic kidney disease results when your kidney's filtering elements are not working properly. Initially, if you don't control your blood-sugars your kidneys could develop a urine infection.

You can get antibiotics to treat an infection like this, but it is more important to get better control of your sugar levels. You see, having consistently high blood-sugars can cause more damage to your kidneys than just having a urine infection.

Between 20% and 33% of diabetics develop diabetic kidney disease. The continuous strain of incorrect levels of blood-sugars creates scarring and swelling in your kidney's filtering elements. Because of these damaged filtering elements, protein leaks into your urine. If protein is found in your urine it is an important early indicator you may have diabetic kidney disease.

Protein in the urine usually appears long before there are any other symptoms of kidney disease. Get your urine tested for protein during your normal diabetes tests so that any kidney disease can be detected at an early stage. If protein is found in your urine, your doctor will probably want you to have other tests, which may include a kidney biopsy.

High blood pressure is another factor that can contribute to kidney disease.

As you can see, the vast majority of complications through diabetes are down to poor blood-glucose control. It is vitally important to have close control over your blood-sugars, which is where diet and exercise can help.

Remember, not everyone with diabetes develops kidney disease problems. Good control and careful attention to diet and exercise can prevent complications like this arising. So do take notice of the diabetes information your diabetic care team provides very seriously.

You can get more information here about kidney disease. The website is run by kidney patients which means, like this site, you are getting information from the people who have to live with the condition, rather than just from a medical stance.