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The Problem With Diabetes – Kidney Disease, African Americans, Hypertension and Related Diseases
February 9, 2009 by Justin Kaiser
Filed under Diabetes Basics
Diabetes is a potentially devastating disease that affects kidneys, nerves, heart, intestines and every other organ in the body. It is a disease in which the body is unable to properly use or produce insulin. Insulin, a hormone that is necessary for converting starches, sugar and other food into energy. The thing that leads to diabetes is unknown and there is no known cure. But, effective management may be achieved under a doctor’s care.
Endocrinologists are specialists that treat diabetes. They are easy to find in most areas. Here are some examples: David Alster, MD of Tucson AZ, Ralph N. M. Beddow, MD, FACP, FACE of Honolulu, HI, Franklin R. Bringhurst, MD in Walpole, MA, Nora Barsony, MD of Tucson AZ
In 2005, it was estimated that there were 20.8 million adults and children who are afflicted with the disease. That is pretty close to 7% of the population. Of that figure, 14.6 million people had been diagnosed, but 6.2 million people were estimated to have diabetes but were undiagnosed. Also, approximately fifty four million adults and children are pre-diabetic with 1 1/2 million new cases in people over the age of 20, showing up each year.
Diabetes is the number one cause of renal disease. For a fact, high blood pressure and diabetes are the two primary causes of kidney disease, leading to an estimated 70 percent of kidney failure cases with diabetes accounting of 44 percent of kidney failure cases. The early stages of kidney disease have virtually no symptoms . It quietly fights your body and by the time it is finally detected, the injury is so far advanced that it can be too involved to prevent kidney failure. Once your kidneys fail, you have two options: dialysis or kidney transplant. If you do not receive either of these, you will die.
How Diabetes causes Renal Disease
When both kidneys are working as they should, the glomeruli (tiny filters that are in the kidneys) keep proteins inside of your blood. Protein is critical for many operations inside of your body and are necessary to keep you healthy. Diabetes makes a high concentration of glucose in the blood which damages the glomeruli. The result is that they can’t maintain the protein in the body and it leaks into the urine from the kidneys.
When the kidneys are damaged they no longer function properly and do not clean our extra fluids as they should. When this occurs, the fluids and waste build up in the serum instead of being removed in the urine. The more this goes on, the worse the damage becomes until the kidneys eventually cease to function.
The Progression of Renal Disease
It takes years for kidney disease from diabetes to develop. Some experience hyperfiltration in the first few years of their having diabetes. This means that the glomeruli actually put out more urine than normal. Once the damage starts, though, it will continue to progress. As a person develops kidney disease, they will have a blood protein named albumin that finally begins to leak into the urine in small amounts. At that time, usually the glomeruli are really functioning normally.
The progression of the disease leads to more protein moving into the urine and the glomeruli begin to fail as the filtering function begins to drop. Waste is retained because of the filtration failure. As a result, the kidneys cease to function.
How to Prevent Kidney Problems if you have Diabetes
Having diabetes, you can normally prevent kidney problems. Use these steps to keep your kidneys healthy: * Control your blood sugar by eating well and a good exercise program * Take your medicine according to your doctors orders * Have your doctor test your blood and urine regularly for kidney problems * If the laboratory test shows that you do have kidney problems, consider medications such as ARBs and ACE inhibitors that can help keep your kidneys healthy.
A diagnosis of diabetes does not have to mean kidney disease. As long as you treat your condition, manage it well and follow your doctor’s orders, there is no reason that you can’t live a long, healthy, happy life – without kidney disease.
Cynthia on Thu, 10th Dec 2009 4:15 pm
An FDA advisory panel just recommended yesterday that the warning label for Covidien’s Optimark and GE’s Omnisca—drugs in the family of medications known as gadolinium-based contrast agents (DBCAs)—be updated to restrict their use in patients with severe kidney disease because of the potential for an increased risk of nephrogenic systemic fibrosis (NSF). NSF causes thickening of the skin and organs. GBCAs carry a strong “black box” warning. This site has good information on this issue: http://www.gadolinium-mri.com/index.html