Diabetes' Effects on Kidneys

Kidneys are part of body’s excretory system and play a vital role in excreting waste substances formed as a result of metabolic activities. The kidneys role is in excretion of excess water, salts, acids, alkalis and in regulating blood pressure.

Kidneys have a system of small blood capillaries in them which filter out waste substances while retaining blood constituents like cells and proteins. In diabetes, continued high levels of sugar over a period of time damages fine blood capillaries resulting into kidney damage or nephropathies. 

These diseases cause leakage of proteins, blood cells and old other blood constituents into the urine. If hypertension is present it further complicates the disease. High sugar level and kidney damage invite infection causing nephritis, pyelonephritis, renal abscess and necrosis leading to kidney failure.

In diabetic patients, continued high blood sugar damages capillaries of the blood filtering system of the kidneys. This provides an ideal environment for infections to settle in and complicate the disease. 

Diabetics are at increased risks to infection by Escherichia coli and Proteus sp and acute pyelonephritis and also complications such as renal abscesses and papillary necrosis. Hypertension further aggravates the kidney disease.

A healthy lifestyle along with control of diabetes, hypertension and regular exercise are measures which can protect against kidney disease. Regular monitoring of urine for diabetics is necessary in order to detect, at the earliest stage, any signs of loss of sugar and protein in urine and take appropriate treatment to avoid permanent damage to kidneys. 

The diet should be taken in consultation with a dietitian.

Kidney damage due to diabetes manifests in different forms of neuropathies. Some common symptoms of renal disease are presence of albumen in urine, swelling on ankles and leg cramps, high level of creatinine in blood, nausea and vomiting, weakness skin irritation.

The disease may accompany infection in kidneys in the form of abscess and /or urinary tract infection. Therefore it is foremost to control diabetes and the infection by using suitable antibiotics. Diabetic patients having hypertension need to control it by using ACE inhibitors (captopril and enalapril) under medical supervision. 

Control of these factors will considerably improve renal function. If however damage to kidney (s) has occurred it may need dialysis and in more serious cases of kidney damage renal transplant may be carried out.

Patient is required to comply with prescribed diabetic diet and medical treatment in order to maintain blood sugar and blood pressure within the range and protect against infection. Personal hygiene of the patient along with the regular monitoring of kidney output and intestinal motility must be taken care of to avoid infection to the patient.

The diet need to fully conform to the requirements for sugar control in diabetic patients. The diet must be healthy nutritious but low in protein contents and salt. Low protein diet will avoid further damage to kidneys of having diabetes along with the kidney disease.

Diabetes belongs to the group of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) which share common causes for their occurrence. Hypertension, which falls in this group, causes complications in diabetic patients and aggravates kidney damage.

Lifestyle factors like sedentary life, unhealthy diet and overweight body are the main risk factors for all NCDs.

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