16^th European Diabetes and Endocrinology Congress

Diabetic Nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy is damage to your kidneys caused by diabetes. In severe cases it can lead to kidney failure. The kidneys have many tiny blood vessels that filter waste from your blood. High blood sugar from diabetes can destroy these blood vessels. Over time, the kidney isn't able to do its job as well. Later it may stop working completely. This is called kidney failure. There are no symptoms in the early stages. So it's important to have regular urine tests to find kidney damage early. Sometimes early kidney damage can be reversed. The problem is diagnosed using simple tests that check for a protein called albumin in the urine.