Diabetes and Endocrinology

Diabetic Nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy is the disease/ damaged caused by diabetes to your kidney, which in severe cases can lead to kidney failure. The waste from our blood is filtered by the tiny blood vessels present in our kidney; they can be destroyed by a high blood sugar level in our body. The body increases its water-retaining capacity and salts than required leads to weight gain and ankle swelling. This leads to malfunction or kidney failure in later stages. No symptoms are shown in earlier stages so, regular urine tests are required to detect any kidney damage.

Diabetes may also lead to damage to nerves, which can lead to difficulty in emptying your bladder and creating pressure injuring your kidney. Long-time retention of urine in the bladder leads to infections as bacterial growth in urine with high blood sugar level is high.

About 30% of patients with Type 1 diabetes and 10 to 40 % of those with Type 2 diabetes gradually will suffer from kidney failure and other forms of diseases.