How to Look After Your Kidneys and Prevent Diabetic Complications
Your kidneys are your filters for your blood, getting rid of any harmful chemicals. When they go wrong it has serious implications as your body can no longer remove potentially dangerous substances which can build up. If you do have complete kidney failure, there are currently two options. Dialysis - where a machine is used to replace your kidneys or Transplant where you receive a new kidney from a donor. Detecting kidney damage early will allow you to stop further damage by starting one or more treatments outlined below.
So what causes kidney damage? Well there are many factors, long term poor glucose control is thought to be the main factor, another is long term high blood pressure. Inheritance can also be a factor as can your racial group, with some Asians and Afro- Caribbeans slightly more at risk. If you smoke, you increase your risk factor and if you have high cholesterol levels your risk also goes up.
Get Checked
Diabetics should get their kidney function checked at least once a year. This is sometimes a simple urine dipstick to look for protein or in a more sophisticated test, a 24 hour urine sample will be tested. Do not get too alarmed at one positive test, protein can appear in your urine under certain circumstance, like after intense exercise. A second more controlled urine sample will confirm the first reading or not.
Treatments
As with all diabetic complications, your first responsibility is to tighten your control of your blood glucose. For high blood pressure there are various groups of drugs that can be used. They have been shown to be very effective at not only reducing blood pressure, but at reducing the risk of other related complications like heart disease and slowing the rate of kidney disease. Diet is an important factor, inparticular Cholesterol. Read the diet section to see how to reduce the amount of bad fats and cholesterol you have in your diet.
Recommended Supplier
Diabetic Supplies from DiabetesStore.com
DiabetesStore.Com is a leading online retailer of all types of diabetes-related products at the lowest prices you'll find anywhere.
More Resources
[ www.diabetes.org ]
[ www.diabetes.ca ]
[ www.diabetesnet.com ]
[ www.diabetes.org.uk ]
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