Kidneys are an important organ of human body and one cannot imagine living without them. Diabetics are more prone to kidney problems. Diabetic nephropathy and diabetic retinopathy are two kidney diseases. Long term high blood glucose damages the blood vessels and the nephrons.

As we all know that kidneys are highly vascular – contains many blood vessels served as an assistant to the nephrons (the main filtering units of the kidneys). The waste products carried to them through bloodstreams filter out by nephrons. After dumping the waste into nephrons, the cleaned blood re-circulates in the body. The waste product is carried to tubules and eventually outside the body in the form of urine. Hence, if the blood vessels or nephrons sustain any damage, the waste products begins to accumulate in the bloodstream, instead of discharging and results in a severe damage to your kidneys and body.

It is possible to avoid diabetic nephropathy, but hard to control once the process has started. If not diagnose early, it will cause you end stage renal (kidney function) disease. In that case you need dialysis and in some extreme case a kidney transplant. Getting a kidney in present scenario is not an easy task. There is a lot of competition for a kidney and the one who gets it, should consider them lucky.  

Symptoms

Symptoms of diabetic nephropathy appear so steadily that one can hardly notice them. The intense symptoms may include loss of appetite, a metallic taste in the mouth, and difficulty in managing blood glucose, fatigue, skin irritation and swelling of the ankles, hands, and face. Appearance of any of these symptoms is a warning signal for you and you need to contact your physician straight away.

Having a kidney disease for a diabetic is considered as the most awful conditions. The treatment of end stage renal disease involves grisly process. You have to undergo painful sessions of dialysis four to fives times a week.

Preventive Measures

It is always better to prevent a disease rather than having its treatment. Same goes for the diabetic kidney diseases. Follow the preventive measures given below to avoid kidney disease:

-    As a diabetic patient, your first priority is to keep your blood glucose level under control.
-    Regularly check your blood pressure. It should be normal most of the time. Higher blood pressure stresses the kidneys. Your blood pressure should not be more than 140/90.
-    If you have a problem of cloudy or bloody urine; pain or burning during urination; the feeling of always needing to urinate; or frequent urination, you may have urinary tract infection. No matter minor or major, you need to have a proper treatment.
-    If you are a diabetic, it is not a bad idea to have a urinalysis once a year. Your test will focus on the presence of protein in the urine, Microalbuminuria, and creatinine. They all indicate potential dysfunction of kidneys.

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