According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure in adults age 20-74. The best way to prevent this very serious complication of diabetes is to manage your diabetes by closely monitoring your blood glucose levels daily and complying with your healthcare team’s prescribed treatment plan.
Kidneys function to filter waste from blood and keep the non-waste such as protein and red blood cells in the blood for use by the body. The waste filtered out of the blood by the kidneys’ tiny filters is removed from the body via urine. Diabetics are at high risk of developing kidney disease, called nephropathy, because high levels of blood glucose cause the kidneys to work harder to filter the blood. After years of being overworked because of the high blood glucose levels, diabetics may develop kidney disease in which the kidneys no longer filter out just the waste but rather begin to leak some protein too into the urine. Eventually the kidneys lose there ability to filter out the waste and waste products build up in the blood. The severest stage of kidney disease is called End-Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) which requires dialysis to filter the blood which the kidneys can no longer filter or a kidney transplant.
Kidney disease can be diagnosed through a urine protein test. The more urine detected in this test the more serious the kidney disease. There are two other blood tests which your doctor can use to evaluate your kidney health called Bun and Serum Creatinine. When kidney disease is diagnosed early, there are treatment options available which may prevent the Kidney Disease from getting worse.
Diabetics with uncontrolled blood glucose in combination with high blood pressure, hypertension, are at even higher risk of developing kidney disease. Diabetics diagnosed with hypertension (blood pressure of 140/90 mmHg or higher) should carefully comply with their healthcare team’s prescribed hypertension management therapies. Blood glucose control is a critical part of preventing kidney disease and other diabetes related complications. It is very important that diabetics carefully monitor their blood glucose daily and use healthcare team prescribed therapies to lower blood glucose when it is high-above 130 mg/dL Fasting and above 180 mg/dL after a meal. Managing your diabetes by carefully monitoring your blood glucose levels daily, living a healthy lifestyle and being compliant with the therapeutic program designed for you by your diabetes healthcare team can help you avoid kidney disease and other serious complication of diabetes.
