Diabetes Tips: 4 Ways to Prevent & Slow Kidney Damage

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Ways to Prevent & Slow Kidney Damage
Diabetics who have long, usually will have a variety of complications.

One of the complications of diabetes that often arises is kidney damage.

In general, kidney damage occurs after 15-25 years, and rarely occurs in the first 10 years of diabetes.

Someone who suffered kidney damage because of diabetes will initially leaking blood protein (albumin) in the urine in small amounts.

The first stage is called microalbuminuria CKD (Chronic Kidney Disease). Kidney filtration function usually remains normal during this period.

A few years later, due to the progress of the disease, leakage of albumin in the urine will be more. This stage is called macroalbuminuria or proteinuria.

As the amount of albumin in the urine increases, the kidneys' filtering function usually begins to decline. As a result of the increasingly severe kidney damage, blood pressure will go up.

Tips on Preventing and Slowing Kidney Damage

Here are 4 tips that can be done to prevent and slow down kidney damage:

1. Blood Pressure Medication

Scientists have made ​​great progress in developing methods that slow the onset and progression of kidney disease in diabetics.

Drugs used to lower blood pressure can slow the progression of kidney disease significantly.

Two types of drugs, angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs), have proven effective in slowing the progression of kidney disease.

Some people may require two or more medications to control their blood pressure. In addition to ACE inhibitors or ARBs, diuretics can also be useful.

Beta blockers, calcium channel blockers, and blood pressure drugs may be required as well.

Examples of ACE inhibitors are effective lisinopril (Prinivil, Zestril). Doctors usually prescribe it to treat kidney disease that occurs due to diabetes.

In addition to lowering blood pressure, lisinopril can also protect the kidney glomerulus, whereas ACE inhibitors reduced proteinuria function and slow the decline of kidney function.

Examples of effective ARB is losartan (Cozaar), which is useful to protect kidney function and reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

2. Low Protein Diet

In patients with diabetes and renal failure, excessive protein consumption would be dangerous.

Experts recommend that people with kidney failure must consume protein in accordance with the recommended diet and should avoid a high protein diet.

For people with kidney function was greatly reduced, low-protein diet can help delay kidney failure.

However, anyone who does a low protein diet should consult a dietitian to ensure adequate nutrition.

3. Intensive Management of Blood Glucose

Antihypertensive drugs and low-protein diet may slow the emergence of CKD. The third treatment alternative known as intensive management of blood glucose or glycemic control.

This method is promising for people with diabetes, especially for those who are at the early stages of CKD.

Normal human body will convert food into glucose, a simple sugar that is the main source of energy for body cells.

To get into the cells, glucose needs help insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas.

When a person does not produce enough insulin or the body does not respond to the insulin that is, the body can not process glucose, so it will accumulate in the bloodstream. High levels of glucose will cause diabetes.

Intensive management of blood glucose is a treatment that aims to keep blood glucose levels close to normal.

This includes regular blood glucose checks, insulin use based on food intake and physical activity, following a diet, physical activity, and consult with a health care team on a regular basis.

Some people use an insulin pump to supply insulin throughout the day. Numerous studies have shown the beneficial effects of intensive management of blood glucose.

Research conducted over the past few decades has established that any program that works in lowering blood glucose levels will be beneficial for patients who are at the early stages of CKD.

4. Dialysis and Transplantation

Diabetics who experience kidney failure must undergo dialysis or kidney transplantation can be done.

In the 1970s, doctors are generally reluctant to recommend diabetics to undergo dialysis or transplant, because they felt damage caused by diabetes would reduce the benefits of this treatment.

Currently, because of the control and survival rates were better after the treatment of diabetes, doctors no longer hesitate to offer dialysis and kidney transplants for diabetics.

Currently, the life expectancy of kidney transplants performed in diabetics with similar results to the level of kidney transplant survival in people without diabetes.