Diabetes Affects Kidney

Tips to control Diabetes and retain a healthy kidney:

Did you know...Diabetes affects the kidney? Diabetic nephropathy is one of the significant specific complications of diabetes. Around 30 to 50 percent of people with kidney failure are diabetics.

Uncontrolled high blood sugar for long span of time produces functional and later structural changes in the kidneys. But what is unfortunate is that the changes occurring in kidneys are not clinically observable to the treating doctor. The symptom the patient show until the kidney function is harshly affected and the disease has reached an irreversible phase.

Urine test is one trendy way of detecting early kidney damage in diabetes through Presence of albumin leak in urine is called albuminuria of proteinuria.

Albumunuria is a symptom of early diabetic kidney disease. In routine urine examination will identify albuminuria. However, as there are no symptoms this is not given any clinical importance and often goes unnoticed without medical care. Aggressive treatment should start at this time and the progression of the kidney damage could be delayed or arrested.

Routine exam of urine will detect albumunura. However, there is another sensitive test for detection of micro abluminuria. This test detects minute amounts of albumin leaked into the urine (microabluminuria).

Microabluminuria is a sign of early abnormalities of the blood vessels and a forerunner of atherosclerosis (hardening of arteries). Therefore occurrence of albuminuria is sign to aggressive treatment of cardiovascular risk factors.

Research has shown that sufficient and long-term control of blood sugar, blood pressure and dietary changes can help in preventing kidney disease. However, the efforts should start early in the life of people with diabetes. New drugs used for treatment of hypertension are called angiotension-converting enzyme inhibitors. These agents were originally invented and used for treatment of hypertension. But they were found to be helpful in preventing kidney disease in persons with diabetes, particularly in patients who have albuminuria.

Other than the specific diabetes kidney disease, people with diabetes are also more prone to urinary tract infections. Chronic recurrent urinary tract infection is more common due to high blood sugar levels. Diabetes can also affect the nerves supplying the urinary bladder and produce abnormal bladder function. This can lead to deficient urinary evacuation and urinary retention. Therefore avoidance of infections also helps in preventing kidney damage in diabetes.

So, remember, if you are a diabetic then have urine test for albumin periodically to detect kidney disease.

Children Diabetes Symptoms Signs

However, it’s not easy to diagnose signs of diabetes in children especially in young children, but it is a wrench discovery for any parent that his child is suffering from the signs of diabetes. However it is better to diagnose the problem at your earliest than to miss these signs of diabetes in children.
An approximation says that every year around 12 thousand people are being diagnosed with diabetes type 1. It is true that taking care of a child is a time consuming process. Even if the parents are vigilant, there are always chances of missing the signs of diabetes in children. It becomes easier to detect the signs of diabetes in children if the parents are well aware of the diabetic symptoms.

Diabetes Sign in Children.

The answer would be of great help for all those parents who have a family history of diabetes.

Dramatic Weight Loss: This is another signs of diabetes in children. Some other reasons of dramatic weight loss are cancer or side effects of drugs. If a child drastically loses weight in a short span of time then it is a dangerous sign no matter diabetes is involved or not.

Recurrent Urge to Urinate: If you ever feel that your child is feeling an urge to urinate or if all of a sudden he starts bed wetting then the parents must keep in mind that it could be the warning diabetic symptom.
However if this is the only symptom then it is better to look for other illnesses. There could be several reasons for excessive urination like urinary tract infection or inability to completely empty the bladder. However it is better to consult doctor if your child is having a recurrent urge to urinate.

Excessive Hunger: A person who is suffering from diabetes feels extremely hungry. It seems that he is eating continually but still he does not put on mass.
The underlying reason is that his body is unable to utilize the food he is eating. The food is only flowing through his whole body.

An Insatiable Urge To Drink Water: The children suffering from diabetes, the fluids are extracted from the tissues of the body.

When the sugar builds up in bloodstream it reaches a point where the body of the diabetics sufferer needs to get rid of surplus glucose. The only way to expel surplus glucose is via urine; however the urine cannot be created without water. If there is not enough water in the bloodstream then no other choice is left behind except for extracting water from nearby tissues. This then makes the body dehydrated. Dehydration then kicks in thirst mechanism.

It is not likely that child is able to detect the diabetic symptoms. It is therefore the duty of the parents to detect the signs of diabetes in children.