You may have heard that there is a growing epidemic of diabetes. As of 2007, it was estimated that there were about 24 million people in this country with diabetes which is about 8% of the population. With each passing year that number is growing at an alarming rate and along with it the complications that diabetes causes. One of the most serious of these complications is diabetic kidney disease which is by far the leading cause of kidney failure in the US.
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A disturbing statistic is that of the 24 million people that I mentioned earlier who have diabetes, about a quarter of them don’t even know it yet. There is often a delay in diagnosis because diabetes is far too often a silent illness. Most people will not notice when their blood sugars are high but one of the symptoms that they frequently complain of when diabetes is first identified is that they urinate a lot and are constantly thirsty. The reason for this is that sugar spills into the urine and draws water along with it. This increases the amount of urine that’s produced. Large amounts of water can be lost quickly resulting in dehydration which is why you then become thirsty and have to consume fluid just to keep up.
Some people who have diabetes for a long time may go on to develop chronic kidney disease. When exposed to high blood sugars for a prolonged periods, the delicate blood vessels within the kidney become damaged and can result in gradual loss of kidney function. If nothing is done about it, this can lead to kidney failure within a few years. Good blood sugar control can prevent diabetic kidney disease altogether. Managing your diabetes can also prevent your kidney disease from getting worse if you already have it.
One of the earliest signs of kidney damage from diabetes is the presence of protein in urine. Ordinarily there should be almost no protein at all in the urine. If you’re diabetic, you should have your urine screened for protein once a year. If it is present in abnormal quantities, that represents a risk factor for future loss of kidney function and you should discuss potential treatment options with your doctor.
• Amy Tenderich’s blog, Diabetes Mine
Note: This is a user-generated blog with wide readership, not a medical site. Amy has been featured in many discussions on meeting healthcare needs online and patients blogging on medical conditions, including at the Health2.0 Conference and at the Commonwealth Club of San Francisco. SavantMD does not endorse any medical advice or recommendations on Diabetes Mine. SavandMD does, however, recognize the importance of patients sharing real-life experiences with one another.
A final point is that in addition to keeping your blood sugars down and regular screening for kidney disease, good blood pressure control is critical in protecting your kidneys. High blood pressure will almost certainly accelerate the loss of kidney function and there are many excellent medications that can be used to prevent this. • About Dr. Chang
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So these are the measures one can take to prevent diabetes because the root cause of the most of the diseases which dont even have cure are the kidneys so it is mot important to take care that the kidneys functions are going on properly in our body.
Informative point for discussion.Normally, the body handles sugar by hormone insulin. Diabetes causes the body does not produce enough insulin or the insulin does not work very well.