Diabetic Kidney Damage or Nephropathy | |
What is Nephropathy?The Kidneys like many other of the bodies organs are susceptible to damage when the small blood vessels that normally filter waste from the blood get blocked or damaged. Nephropathy is the medical term for Kidney damage.
When these small blood vessels (capilleries) get damaged they -
Ultimately Kidney Damage can lead to complete Kidney failure. Testing for NephropathyThe first sign of kidney damage is an increase in the amount of protein (microalbuminuria) in the urine.Monitoring of protein levels gives an early warning of kidney damage caused by diabetes. Note however that raised protein levels can have other causes such as repeated Kidney infection and other conditions Protein Early Warning Levels (Albumin)
These are tested using a fasting (pre-breakfast) sample of urine. |
Minimising the Risks
Other factors also increase the risks of developing Nephropathy. Two of these factors are gender (males have an increased risk) and hereditary. Treatments for NephropathyTreatments for Nephropathy aim to slow the progression of the damage. Treatments aim to -
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