People with diabetes have a lot to juggle when it comes to their healthcare. Having diabetes puts you at risk of other health problems, including heart attacks, strokes, vision loss, nerve damage, and kidney disease. While all of that may sound overwhelming, there is some good news; many of the steps you need to take to prevent one of those complications may actually help to prevent them all.
DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY RISK FACTORS
There are several factors that can increase your risk of developing diabetic nephropathy. These include:
- Having chronically elevated blood sugar levels Being overweight or obese
- Smoking
- Having a diabetes-related vision problem (diabetic retinopathy) or nerve damage (diabetic neuropathy.
- Having a family history of kidney disease or belonging to certain ethnic groups (African American, Mexican, Pima Indian) can also increase your risk of diabetic nephropathy. But the factors listed above are the ones you can do something about.
DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY COMPLICATIONS
The key complication of diabetic nephropathy is more advanced kidney disease, called chronic kidney disease. Chronic kidney disease can, in turn, progress even further, eventually leading to total kidney failure and the need for dialysis or kidney transplantation. DIABETIC NEPHROPATHY TREATMENT — People with diabetes often focus on keeping their blood sugar levels in the right ranges. And while it is important to control blood sugar, it turns out that controlling blood pressure is at least as important. That’s because high blood sugar and high blood pressure work in concert to damage the blood vessels and organ systems.
For these reasons, the most important things you can do to stall kidney disease and protect against other diabetes complications are to:
- Make healthy lifestyle choices
- Keep your blood sugar as close to normal as possible below.
- Keep your blood pressure below 130/80, if possible.