Diabetic nephropathy is the name used to describe kidney damage caused by diabetes. It develops slowly over several years. Almost one in five people with diabetes eventually need treatment for diabetic nephropathy. Despite these alarming statistics, there are many things that can reduce the risk of developing the complication. If detected early enough, diabetic nephropathy can also be delayed with treatment.
What causes kidney disease?
One of the main jobs of your kidneys is to filter your blood by removing excess fluids and waste products from your body through urine.
High blood glucose (sugar) levels can damage the small blood vessels and tiny filters in your kidneys. When the blood vessels are damaged, the kidneys are unable to clean the blood in an optimal way. For this reason, excess fluids, salts, toxic products accumulate in the body and swelling and weight gain begin to be observed.
The earliest sign of diabetic nephropathy is the so-called microalbuminuria, which means an increased level of the albumin protein in the urine.
What is albumin?
Human albumin is a small globular protein consisting of 585 amino acids. Albumin is synthesized in the liver, after which it is excreted into the bloodstream. It plays an important transport role – for hormones, vitamins or medicines.
An important indicator is the amount of albumin and the ratio with total potein in various disease processes: chronic liver diseases, chronic kidney failure, oncological diseases or in the diagnosis of edematous conditions.
Once this damage is present, the remaining kidney filters must work extra to compensate for the deficiencies in the system’s proper functioning. Once the kidneys start working at less than 15% of their capacity, a diagnosis of kidney failure is made and the patient usually goes on dialysis.
There is no specific treatment for diabetic nephropathy, but disease progression can be slowed by controlling blood pressure, optimizing blood sugar levels, and changing diet. Once kidney disease is present, the most important thing to focus on is controlling blood pressure.