Diabetes causes Renal Disease

Diabetes is a potentially crippling condition that affects kidneys, intestines, heart, nerves and every other organ in the body. It is a problem in which the body is unable to produce or properly use insulin. Insulin, a hormone that is necessary for converting starches, sugar and other food into energy. The cause of diabetes is unknown and there is no known cure although effective management may be achieved under a endocrinologist’s care.
Endocrinologists are specialists that treat diabetes. They are easy to find in most areas. Here are some examples: David Alster, MD of Tucson AZ, Toheed J. Kamal, MD, FRCP, FACP, FACE of Northport, AL, Fernando Ovalle, MD, FACE of Vestavia Hills, AL, Derrick Lewis Aipoalani, DO at the Univ. of Minnesota Endocrinology of Mayo in Minneapolis, MN
In 2005, it was estimated that there were 20.8 million adults and children who are afflicted with the disease. That is pretty close to 7% of the population. Of those, 14.6 million people were diagnosed, but 6.2 million people were thought to have diabetes but were undiagnosed. Additionally, about 54 million children and adults are pre-diabetic with 1 1/2 million newly diagnoed people age 20 and older, showing up annually.
Diabetes is the most common cause of renal disease. In fact, high blood pressure and diabetes are the major causes of kidney disease. This leads to an estimated 70 percent of kidney failure with diabetes accounting of 44 percent of kidney failure cases. The early stages of kidney disease have virtually no symptoms or signs . It fights your body and when it is detected, the injury is so problematic that it quite often is too involved to prevent kidney failure. Once your kidneys fail, you have two options: dialysis or kidney transplant. If you do not receive either of these, you will eventually die.

How Diabetes causes Renal Disease
When the kidneys are working as they should, the glomeruli (tiny filters that are in the kidneys) keep proteins inside of your body. Protein is critical for a multitude of functions within your body and are needed to keep you healthy. Diabetes causes a greater concentration of glucose in the blood which damages the glomeruli. The result is that they can’t maintain the protein in the body and it leaks into the urine from the kidneys.
When the kidneys are thus damaged they no longer function correctly and do not clean our extra fluids as they should. When this occurs, the fluids and waste build up in the body instead of being removed in the urine. As this continues, the worse the damage becomes until the kidneys eventually cease to function.
The Progression of Renal Disease
It often takes years for diabetic kidney disease to develop. Some diabetics experience hyperfiltration in the first few years of their diabetes. This means that the glomeruli actually function at a much higher capacity than normal. Once the damage starts, however, it will continue to progress. As a person develops kidney disease, they will have a serum protein named albumin that will begin to leak into the urine in small amounts. At this time, normally the glomeruli are actually functioning normally.
The progression of the disease will lead to more protein leaking into the urine and the glomeruli begin to fail as the filtering apparatus begins to decrease. Waste is kept in the body due to the filtration failure. As a result, the kidneys cease to function.
How to Prevent Kidney Problems if you have Diabetes
If you have diabetes, you can normally prevent kidney problems. Take these suggestions to protect yourself: * Control your diabetes by eating well and getting good exercise * Take your medication as your doctor has directed * Have your physician test your urine and blood regularly for kidney problems * If testing shows that you do have kidney problems, look into medications such as ACE inhibitors and angiotensin II receptor blockers that can help keep your kidneys healthy.
A diagnosis of diabetes does not have to automatically lead to kidney disease. As long as you stay on top of your condition, manage it well and follow your endocronologist’s orders, there is no reason that you can’t live a long, healthy, happy life - without kidney disease.

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