Diabetic kidney disease can be a life threatening condition. If diabetes mellitus goes undiagnosed, or is not treated properly, it can lead to diabetic kidney disease, kidney failure, and even death. To better understand this condition, it is important to understand diabetes mellitus.

There are two types of diabetes mellitus. Both types of diabetes can lead to chronic kidney disease. Diabetes mellitus is a metabolic condition that causes an increase in blood sugar due to insulin deficiency or insulin resistance.

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (aka. juvenile diabetes or insulin dependent diabetes) occurs when the pancreas is unable to produce an adequate amount of the insulin hormone. This condition is usually diagnosed in childhood or early adulthood.

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (aka. adult onset diabetes or insulin resistant diabetes) occurs when the fat and muscle cells become resistant to the insulin hormone. This condition is typically diagnosed in adults and tends to be more common in people who suffer from obesity and other chronic lifestyle illnesses. However, with the increase of childhood obesity, it is becoming much more common for children to be diagnosed with type 2 diabetes.

Diabetic kidney disease occurs when insulin is not available to metabolize blood glucose and the kidneys work overtime to rid the body of the extra sugar. The extra sugar can cause serious damage to all of the systems of the body, so the kidneys attempt to pick up the slack. The kidneys are able to handle this for a short period of time. However, if diabetes goes undiagnosed or uncontrolled this filtering process is extremely hard on the kidneys and it leads to diabetic kidney disease.

 

Diabetic Kidney Disease Symptoms

 

The symptoms of diabetic kidney disease need to be taken seriously. If this condition is treated early, it is possible to prevent chronic kidney disease.

According to the American Diabetes Association, it can be difficult to detect the symptoms of diabetic kidney disease because the symptoms are vague and they come on late in the process. If symptoms do occur, they can include loss of appetite, nausea, stomach pain, insomnia, unexplained weakness, and trouble with concentration.

Since diabetic kidney disease can be difficult to detect via symptoms, it is important to make sure your blood sugar levels stay within normal ranges. It is also important to have routine checkups with your physician to have your urine tested for sugar. This is one of the easiest ways to detect the kidneys involvement with filtering sugar out of the blood.

 

Treatment For Diabetic Chronic Kidney Disease

 

If diabetic kidney disease occurs, it will ruin the kidneys. The only options at that point are dialysis or a kidney transplant. If the condition continues to go untreated, the kidneys will fail and the blood will become toxic, which will lead to death. The best way to treat diabetic kidney disease is to prevent it!