Diabetes and Kidney Disease

Diabetes and Kidney Disease

Diabetes is a potentially devastating disease that affects kidneys, heart, intestines 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 precursor of diabetes is unknown and there is no known cure. But, effective management may be achieved under a doctor'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, Dr Firouz Khamsi of Toronto, Lisa D. Houchin, MD of Charlotte NC, Chetan Patel, MD of Tucson AZ, Justin William Fontenot, MD in Shreveport, LA, Ross Del Fierro, MD of Mobile, AL, Bobby N. Johnson, MD of Huntsville, AL, Raymond Graap, MD of Tucson AZ

In 2005, it was estimated that there were 20.8 million people of all ages who are afflicted by this disease. That is about 7% of the population. Of that number, 14.6 million people were diagnosed, but 6.2 million people were thought to have diabetes but they had not found out yet. In addition, just about 54 million folks are pre-diabetic with 1 1/2 million diabetes found in people older than 20, found each year.

Diabetes is the number one cause of renal disease. For a fact, hypertension and diabetes are the two primary causes of kidney disease. This causes about 70 percent of kidney failure with diabetes accounting of 44 percent of kidney failure cases. The early stages of kidney disease have virtually so signs . It underhandedly makes war on your body and by the time it is detected, the pathology is so problematic that it quite often is too far to prevent failure of the kidneys. Once your kidneys fail, you have two options: dialysis or kidney transplant. If you do not receive either of these, you will die.

How Diabetes causes Kidney Disease

When the kidneys are serving as they should, the glomeruli (tiny filters that are in the kidneys) keep all proteins inside of your blood. Protein is necessary for many operations within your body and are needed to keep you healthy. Diabetes causes an increased concentration of glucose in the blood which damages the glomeruli. This means that they can no longer keep the protein in the body and it is leaked into the urine from the glomeruli.

When the kidneys are damaged they no longer work efficiently and do not clean our waste as they should. When this occurs, the waste and fluids build up in the blood instead of being secreted through urine. The more this goes on, the worse the damage becomes until the kidneys eventually cease to function.

The Progression of Kidney Disease

It often takes years for diabetic kidney disease to develop. Some experience hyperfiltration in the first few years of their having diabetes. This means that the glomeruli actually put out more urine than normal. Once the damage starts, however, it will continue to progress. As a person develops kidney disease, they will have a blood protein known as albumin that finally starts to leak into the urine in small amounts. At this time, the glomeruli are really functioning normally.

The progression of the disease will lead to more protein leaking into the urine and the glomeruli begin to gradually fail as the filtering begins to drop. Waste is kept in the serum causing the filtration failure. Eventually, the kidneys stop functioning.

How to Prevent Kidney Problems if you have Diabetes

If you have diabetes, you can usually prevent kidney failure. Take these suggestions to protect yourself: * Control your blood sugar by eating the right foods and a good exercise program * Take your medication as prescribed * Have your medical provider test your urine regularly for kidney disease * If the blood test shows that you do have kidney disease, consider medicines such as ACE inhibitors 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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