Endocrinologists are specialists that treat diabetes. They are easy to find in most areas. Here are some examples: David Alster, MD of Tucson AZ, Gilbert Theodore Brovar, MD in South Weymouth, MA, Stephen F. Brandt, MD at the Emory University Division of Endocrinology of Atlanta, GA, Franklin R. Bringhurst, MD in Walpole, MA, Arnold M. Moses, MD of Syracuse NY
In 2005, it was estimated that there were 20.8 million children and adults who are afflicted by this disease. That is about 7% of the population. Of those, 14.6 million people were diagnosed, but 6.2 million people were thought to have diabetes but it had not been discovered yet. Additionally, just about 54 million folks are pre-diabetic with one and a half million diabetes found in people older than 20, showing up each year.
Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney disease. Truly, high blood pressure and diabetes are the major causes of kidney disease, leading to probably 70 percent of kidney failure cases with diabetes accounting of 44 percent of kidney failure cases. The early stages of kidney disease have no symptoms . It injures your body and by the time it is detected, the injury is so problematic that it often is too involved to prevent failure of the kidneys. Once your kidneys fail, you have two options: kidney transplant or dialysis. If you do not receive either of these, you will die.
How Diabetes causes Renal Disease
When your kidneys are serving properly, the glomeruli (tiny filters that are in the kidneys) keep all proteins inside of your blood. Protein is critical for many operations inside of your body and are necessary for keeping you healthy. Diabetes causes a high concentration of glucose in the blood which damages the glomeruli. This means that they can no longer keep the protein in the body and it is leaked into the urine from the kidneys.
When kidneys are damaged they no longer function properly and do not cleanse our extra fluids and waste as they should. When this occurs, the waste and fluids build up in the body instead of being expelled through urine. The longer this happens, the worse the damage becomes until the kidneys eventually fail.
The Progression of Renal Disease
It often requires years for kidney disease from diabetes to develop. Some people experience hyperfiltration in the first few years of their diabetes. This means that the glomeruli actually put out more urine than normal. Once damage starts, though, it will continue to progress. While developing kidney disease, they will have a serum protein named albumin that finally begins to enter into the urine in small amounts. At that time, normally the glomeruli are actually working normally.
The progression of the disease leads to more protein leaking into the urine and the glomeruli begin to eventually fail as the filtering begins to drop. Waste is retained in the blood due to the filtration failure. Eventually, the kidneys cease to function.
How to Prevent Kidney Problems if you have Diabetes
Having diabetes, you can normally prevent kidney failure. Use these steps to protect yourself: * Control your blood sugar by maintaining a healthy diet and a good exercise regimen * Take your medicine according to your doctors orders * Have your medical provider test your urine regularly for kidney disease * If the blood test shows that you do have kidney disease, consider medicines such as ARBs (angiotensin II receptor blockers) and ACE inhibitors that can help keep your kidneys healthy.
A diagnosis of diabetes does not have to lead to kidney disease. As long as you adequately treat your condition, manage it well and follow your provider's orders, there is no reason that you can't live a long, healthy, happy life - without kidney disease.
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