Diabetic Nephropathy symptoms

The word diabetes means "passing through", referring to the polyuria (abnormal increase of urine production), a symptom historically present in those affected by the disease. When the level of blood glucose rises beyond the kidney's capacity to reabsorb glucose from the renal ultrafiltrate, glucose remains diluted in the fluid, raising its osmotic pressure and causing more water to be carried out, thus, increasing the excreted urine volume. The increased volume dilutes the sodium chloride in the urine, signalling the macula densa to release more renin, causingvasoconstriction, a survival mechanism to retain water by passing less blood through the kidneys. Because the kidney is nurtured exclusively by the blood it filtrates, the vasoconstriction also reduces the nutrients supplied to it, causing infarct of its tissues and reduction of renal function.

 

As kidney damage progresses, your kidneys cannot remove the waste from your blood. The waste then builds up in your body and can reach poisonous levels, a condition known as uremia. People with uremia are often confused or comatose. Uremia is worsened by high blood pressure

 

the Symptoms of Diabetic Nephropathy

 

There are often no symptoms with early diabetic nephropathy. As the kidney function worsens, symptoms may include:

 

· Swelling of the hands, feet, and face

 

· Weight gain

 

· Trouble sleeping or concentrating

 

· Poor appetite

 

· Nausea

 

· Weakness

 

· Itching (end-stage kidney disease) and extremely dry skin

 

· Drowsiness (end-stage kidney disease)

 

· Blood in the urine (rare)

 

· Abnormalities in the hearts' regular rhythm, because of increased potassium in the blood

 

· Muscle twitching