Prevent Diabetes Problems: Keep Your Kidneys Healthy

When kidneys are working well, the tiny filters in your kidneys, the glomeruli, keep protein inside your body. You need the protein to stay healthy.

High blood glucose and high blood pressure damage the kidneys' filters. When the kidneys are damaged, the protein leaks out of the kidneys into the urine. Damaged kidneys do not do a good job of cleaning out waste and extra fluids. So not enough waste and fluids go out of the body as urine. Instead, they build up in your blood.

An early sign of kidney damage is when your kidneys leak small amounts of a protein called albumin (al-BYOO-min) into the urine.

With more damage, the kidneys leak more and more protein. This problem is called proteinuria (PRO-tee-NOOR-ee-uh). More and more wastes build up in the blood. This damage gets worse until the kidneys fail.

Diabetic nephropathy (neh-FROP-uh-thee) is the medical term for kidney problems caused by diabetes.

	No protein is leaking from the healthy kidney.
	Protein is leaking from the unhealthy kidney.

• Prevent Diabetes Problems: Keep Your Kidneys Healthy
• What are diabetes problems?
• What should I do each day to stay healthy with diabetes?
• What do my kidneys do?
• How can I prevent diabetes kidney problems?
• How can my doctor protect my kidneys during special x-ray tests?
• How can diabetes hurt my kidneys?
• What can I do if I have diabetes kidney problems?
• How will I know if my kidneys fail?
• What happens if my kidneys fail?
• Will I know if I start to have kidney problems?
• How can I find out if I have kidney problems?
• For More Information About Diabetes and Kidney Problems