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Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure, accounting for more than 40 percent of new cases. Even when drugs and diet are able to control diabetes, the disease can lead to nephropathy and kidney failure. Most people with diabetes do not develop nephropathy that is severe enough to cause kidney failure. About 16 million people in the United States have diabetes, and about 100,000 people have kidney failure as a result of diabetes.

Diabetes is a disease in which insulin is either not produced (type 1) or insulin made by the pancreas is no longer effective (type 2). Glucose enters the blood stream as food is digested. Insulin is a hormone that allows glucose to leave the blood as it circulates and enter the cells. When glucose enters the cells, it fuels them, with the energy they need to run the body. If there is no insulin, or if it is not working like it should, the glucose keeps circulating in the blood, unable to leave.

Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy. With Type 1 diabetes, your body does not make insulin. With Type 2 diabetes, the more common type, your body does not make or use insulin well. Without enough insulin, the glucose stays in your blood. Over time, having too much glucose in your blood can cause serious problems. It can damage your eyes, kidneys, and nerves.

Diabetes resulting in an insulin-dependent state is classified as Type 1 diabetes. While Type 1 diabetes affects only between 5 to10 percent of the diabetic population, its effects on the body can be worse than other forms of diabetes. In the past, Type 1 has been known as juvenile or juvenile-onset diabetes (because it is usually diagnosed in those under thirty), brittle diabetes, unstable diabetes, and ketosis-prone diabetes. People in this classification more frequently exhibit the classic symptoms, usually with ketones present in blood and urine.

Diabetes can damage this system. High levels of blood sugar make the kidneys filter too much blood. All this extra work is hard on the filters. After many years, they start to leak. Useful protein is lost in the urine. Having small amounts of protein in the urine is called microalbuminuria. When kidney disease is diagnosed early, (during microalbuminuria), several treatments may keep kidney disease from getting worse. Having larger amounts is called macroalbuminuria. When kidney disease is caught later (during macroalbuminuria), end-stage renal disease, or ESRD, usually follows.

The risk of type 2 diabetes increases as you get older, especially after age 45. Often, that’s because people tend to exercise less, lose muscle mass and gain weight as they age. But type 2 diabetes is increasing dramatically among children, adolescents and younger adults. Prediabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar level is higher than normal, but not high enough to be classified as type 2 diabetes. Left untreated, prediabetes often progresses to type 2 diabetes.

Diabetic kidney disease takes many years to develop. In some people, the filtering function of the kidneys is actually higher than normal in the first few years of their diabetes. Over several years, people who are developing kidney disease will have small amounts of the blood protein albumin begin to leak into their urine. This first stage of CKD is called microalbuminuria. The kidney’s filtration function usually remains normal during this period.

Tags: Diabetes, Information