How is diabetic kidney disease treated?
How is diabetic kidney disease treated?
Professor Ian W Campbell
NetDoctor
How is diabetic kidney disease treated?
By normalising blood sugar levels with insulin or blood sugar lowering medicines.
* If microalbuminuria is detected, ACE inhibitors such as Lopace (pamipril) or angiotensin II antagonists (eg Aprovel (irbesartan) ) are used.
If you have high blood pressure, it needs to be well controlled and blood pressure medication may be given. In diabetic patients with kidney disease a target blood pressure level is 130/80mmHg.
If kidney function is significantly reduced, you'll need to reduce the amount of protein in your diet.
If you have end-stage kidney disease, you'll need dialysis and ultimately a kidney transplant.
ACE inhibitor drugs
These drugs are used to lower high blood pressure, but they can also reduce the loss of the protein albumin through the kidneys.
They've been shown to reduce the likelihood of heart attack in Type 2 diabetes by 25 per cent when given over several years.
When Type 1 patients with diabetic kidney disease took the drugs over three years, there was a 50 per cent reduction in all events including dialysis, kidney transplantation and death.
ACE inhibitors are well tolerated drugs that can be given to a wide range of people. The most common side effect is a dry cough that can be troublesome enough to make the drug intolerable.
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