Diabetic Kidney - Causes, Symptoms & Diagnosis

What is Diabetic Kidney Disease?

Diabetic nephropathy, popularly known as diabetic kidney disease, is the medical conditions in the kidney that results in malfunctioning of the kidneys, owing to diabetic condition. Researchers have shown that around 30 percent of those with diabetes are susceptible to diabetic kidney disease. This condition ultimately results in failure of the kidney. In this disease, the glomeruli or the filters of the kidneys get damaged. Therefore, the kidneys would become incapable of filtering out the wastes from your blood. As a result, your urine will have high levels of proteins called Albumins. Healthy kidneys flush out tiny quantities of albumin in the urine. Therefore, diagnosis of higher levels of albumin is the sign that diabetic kidney disease exists.

Coupled with other conditions like high blood pressure, high cholesterol or other diseases of the blood and heart, the damages incurred to the kidney are more and cause infections in the bladder and nerve damages. Depending on how much albumin is in the urine, there are two types of diabetic kidney disease:

Microalbuminuria – The albumin level in urine is 30-300 mg per day

Macroalbuminuria - The albumin level in urine is more than 300 mg per day

Symptoms

In early stages of diabetic kidney disease, it is unlikely to have symptoms. But as the condition worsens, symptoms begin to appear.
Other symptoms that can occur with diabetic kidney disease include:

Tiredness
Loss of appetite
Weight loss
Muscle cramps
Dry and itchy skin
Puffiness around eyes
Increased frequency of passing urine
Anemia and pale skin
Swollen feet and ankles
Difficulty in clear thinking

Causes

The causes of diabetic kidney disease are:

Diabetes
Poor maintenance of blood glucose levels
Obesity
High blood pressure
High cholesterol
Long duration diabetes, especially in men
Smoking
Cardiovascular diseases

Risks

The risk factors for diabetic kidney disease are:

High glucose level in blood
High albumin level in urine
High cholesterol
High blood pressure
Unhealthy eating habits
Obesity

Prevention

To prevent diabetic kidney disease you have to:

Maintain the glucose in your blood, within the target specified
Have a healthy heart
Healthy blood circulation system by eating fibre rich food
Avoiding alcohol and tobacco
Exercise regularly to maintain a healthy body weight

How is it diagnosed?

The estimation of the functionality of kidney using factors like reports from blood tests, urine tests, consideration of age and gender, is called ‘Estimated glomerular filtration rate’. At Med...

Urine tests
Blood tests

How is it treated?

The treatments of diabetic kidney disease at Medanta aim to delay or prevent the progression of kidney disorders into kidney failure. Especially, if you have microalbuminuria, care can be taken to prevent occurrence of diabteic kidney disease in..

ACE Inhibitors
Angiotensin converting enzymes reduce the amount of a chemical called angiotensin in your blood stream. Lesser quantities of Angiotensin result in widening of blood vessels, thereby reducing blood pressure. Although this is a method to treat high blood pressure, it has been found to have positive effects in treatment of diabetic kidney disease.
Glucose level control
The quantity of sugar in your blood has to be controlled for delaying progression of diabetic kidney disease.
Blood pressure control
Strict blood pressure control is likely to reduce the risk of developing cardiovascular diseases and prevent or delay the progression of kidney disease.
Medication review
If medications cause side-effects in your body, then your doctor could revise the medication in order to reduce the same.
Lifestyle changes
Healthy food to be consumed, body weight needs to be maintained and consumption of sweets, high-fat food, alcohol and smoking habits need to be reduced. Exercises should be done regularly to keep a healthy physique.
Kidney Dialysis
This method is used to provide external support for cleansing the blood of chemicals, the task otherwise performed by healthy kidneys.
Kidney transplant
If all else fails, your nephrologist may recommend a kidney transplantation procedure, wherein a kidney from a healthy donor is transplanted into you.

When do I contact the doctor?

Contact your specialist at Medanta if you have symptoms like increased or decreased frequency of urination, feeling drowsy, unexplained weight loss, vomiting, muscle cramps, etc. You may also find it difficult to concentrate properly.

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