Diabetes & Kidney Disease
Because uncontrolled diabetes can harm the blood vessels in your body, it can cause damage to your kidneys. Kidneys serve as your body’s filter, removing waste products from your blood and keeping your body fluids in balance. If your kidneys are damaged, their filtering ability begins to fail, which can result in kidney disease.
Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure in the United States and causes approximately 45 percent of new cases of kidney failure.
How does diabetes affect my kidneys?
When kidneys are working normally, blood flows through tiny, special blood vessels (called glomeruli), allowing waste to pass through the kidneys and exit as urine. These tiny blood vessels are supposed to keep larger, more useful things (like protein and red blood cells) in the blood.
High glucose levels can damage these blood vessels. When damaged, they can start leaking, letting other substances, such as protein, leave the body through the urine. The presence of protein in the urine is the earliest sign of damage to the kidneys from diabetes. Over time, this damage can lead to kidney disease.
High blood pressure can damage the small blood vessels in the kidneys. The combination of high blood pressure and high blood glucose levels can increase the rate at which kidney function is lost.
Not everyone with diabetes develops kidney disease. By controlling blood glucose levels and blood pressure, you may lower your chance of damaging your kidneys.
