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Diabetes » Nephropathy

Nephropathy

Nephropathy (disease of the kidneys) belongs to the most common consequential diseases of diabetes mellitus. With an anti diabetic and blood pressure lowering therapy, the damaging of the kidneys can be prevented or, at least, minimized.

If a damage is already the case, it is vital to begin with a therapy as soon as possible Nephropathy can be discovered at quite an early stage by a test that detects the amount of the protein albumin in the urine. A level of more than 20 mg of albumin per litre of urine is considered pathological. If this is ascertained - you can get test strips to use at home - a doctor needs to examine the first morning urine. Hereby a urethral infection or a feverish infection should be excluded. If again the level is above 20 mg/l, you can consider a diabetic kidney disease to be starting. A high quality and consequent therapy is very important now.

Today it is proven that a protein-reduced diet has a positive effect on nephropathy. That means you shouldn't consume more than 50 - 60 g protein each day. The easiest way to achieve that is a vegetarian diet. That doesn't mean you'll have to do completely without milk and meat products. You just shouldn't consume them regularly. With the help of food tables that show the protein concentration of various food products, the amount of the consumed protein is easy to control.
Should the test show an albumin level of more than 200 mg/l, it means the damage has gone so far that a rebuilding is not likely to be possible. A lowering of the blood pressure can slow down the progress of the disease or even stop it. This is still possible with a limited kidney function.

Kidney diseases indicate that vascular damage might be the case as well. The consequences could be heart attack, stroke or an arterial blockage.
Since nephropathy only affects every second with a constantly bad blood glucose setting, the genetic factor seems to be responsible. But because there are no tests to figure the risk of a nephropathy, there's only one way of prevention: a good metabolic setting.
Also smokers should think about giving up. Smoking increases, apart from the commonly known risk of arteriosclerosis, also the likeliness of an appearing and increasing disease of the kidney.

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