Diabetic Nephropathy: Causes, Prevention and Treatment

How diabetes causes kidney disease?

The blood vessels in kidneys help filter wastes from blood. If blood sugar level is not controlled well, high blood sugar can destroy these blood vessels. As to diabetes it mainly damage blood capillaries within kidneys. Diabetes will cause large amount of glycosylated substance and lipid toxic things to deposit in the kidneys. It will cause inflammation in the kidneys and gradually damage the kidney function.

Over time, the kidneys will lose the ability to filter blood gradually. Later it may stop working completely and develop into renal failure. Generally speaking, patients with Diabetic Nephropathy take dialysis treatment earlier than those patients with other types of kidney diseases.

What are the stages of Diabetic Nephropathy?

Diabetic Nephropathy can be divided into five stages: Stage 1: GFR increases into 150-200; Stage 2: GFR increases into 130; Stage 3: GFR becomes normal 100-120, but there will be microalbumin 300mg; Stage 4: GFR may decrease, and clinic albuminuria appears; Stage 5: GFR below 20. So, to test protein in urine for 24 hours is very important for patients with Diabetic Nephropathy.

How to prevent Diabetic Nephropathy?

Albumin is a kind of protein in blood, under normal cases, there are just a few of them in urine. Microalbumin reflects your kidneys become abnormal and then leak protein into urine. When you find it, do pay attention, Microalbumin in urine is the early symptoms of Diabetic Nephropathy. But normally patients will not pay attention to it. So experts in Beijing Tongshantang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine suggest patients with diabetes to check microalbumin and fundus microscopy to see whether there has early kidney damage.

How to treat Diabetic Nephropathy?

Therefore, to treat Diabetic Nephropathy, we have to stop the inflammation, remove the wastes and toxins, repair the damaged kidney cells and help improve the kidney function. As a patient with Diabetic Nephropathy, if you are not satisfied with your current treatment, you are suggested to click How to Help Diabetic Nephropathy Patients Avoid Dialysis. If having any questions, remember that we are here helping you.