The Connection Between Diabetes, High Blood Pressure and Kidney Failure
If you have diabetes or even high blood pressure, you must know that both of these disorders can cause kidney disease as well as kidney failure. Diabetes in fact, is the number one cause for kidney failures, with high blood pressure right behind it on the second most leading cause.
While this is true, it is also true that you will not wake up one morning to find that your kidney has failed. Kidney failure occurs following a long period of several years, even decades of kidney damage and by taking proper precautions as well as keeping a close watch on your health, it is possible to reduce the threat of a kidney failure.
Kidneys and kidney disease and failure
While rarely do people sit and ponder over how useful their kidneys are, our life depends on these fist-sized filters. Our blood is purified of wastes through our kidneys.
Besides that, kidney regulate the fluid content of our body, our blood pressure and they help in the production of RBC as well as healthy bones.
High blood pressure as well as diabetes can cause chronic damage to kidneys so that kidneys do not function as well as they should. Over time, this can lead to kidney failure. In case of kidney failure, the person depends on dialysis or kidney transplant to live.
A shocking 4.5% of Americans suffer from chronic disease of the kidneys. However, if it is diagnosed early and treated accordingly, then kidney failure can be avoided.
Symptoms
Usually, you can live and feel normal and healthy and yet have chronic kidney disease. You can determine if you
have it through medical tests. However, if you are advanced in the disease and are nearing kidney failure, you might notice symptoms such as swollen body parts such as the feet, ankles or face, foamy, coffee-coloured or bloody urine, an unusual or burning sensation while urinating, urinating frequently particularly at night, feelings of tiredness or listlessness, easy bleeding or bruising.
If you are a diabetic, or have high blood pressure, you should get yourself checked.
Treatment
If you are a diabetic, you will have to bring your sugar level under control and if you have high blood pressure, you will have to bring your blood pressure under control. You can go on a personalised diet plan recommended by your doctor, avoid some kinds of medicines.
The best way is to prevent it. A healthy lifestyle, regular exercise will help you stay healthy and keep these diseases at bay. You can also go for regular check-ups so that you can find out if something is wrong early on, which will make it easier to deal with.
