diabeticandkidneydisease - Tumblr blog

[diabeticandkidneydisease]

Diabetes and Kidney Disease

Diabetes is a disease in which the body does not produce enough insulin or mounts resistance to its action, leading to high blood sugar levels. Persistently elevated sugars damage various organs over time. Kidney is just one of them.

About 30-40% of patients with diabetes go on to develop kidney disease. The earliest seen abnormality is leakage of proteins in urine which can be ascertained by a simple test. As the disease progresses, a rise in serum creatinine can be noticed. Patients may be completely unaware of the disease, as there may be no symptoms whatsoever in the early stages. As the kidney function progressively declines, there may be puffiness of the eyes, swelling of feet, change in urine output and decreased appetite. If you have any of these symptoms please discuss them with your doctor.

What can you do to prevent the development of kidney disease?

Control your blood sugar levels.

Control your blood pressure if you are hypertensive as well.

Get your retina checked annually. Appearance of diabetes-related damage in the eyes often co-exists with damage in kidneys.

Get kidney function tests and urine examination done annually.