Risk factors for diabetic kidney disease identified

	Tweet

High blood pressure and high lipid levels, as well as longer disease duration, elevated glucose (sugar) levels, and male gender, are all significant risk factors for kidney disease in patients with type 1 diabetes, according to a report in the current issue of Diabetes Care.

“Diabetes care must continue to focus on improvement of metabolic control, but also on monitoring...lipids and blood pressure.” High blood pressure and high blood lipid levels should be treated as soon as they are diagnosed, lead author Dr. Klemens Raile, from Charite Children’s Hospital in Berlin, told Reuters Health. Our study is in agreement with other studies that show lower levels of kidney disease in patients who have good control over their blood glucose levels.

The researchers analyzed data from 27,805 patients included in the nationwide, prospective German Diabetes Documentation System survey. The average ages at diagnosis and at last visit were 10 and 16 years old, respectively, while the average follow-up time was 2.5 years.

Overall, 26,605 subjects had normal urine test results, 919 had low levels of protein in the urine, 78 had high levels of protein in the urine, and 203 had end-stage renal (kidney) disease (ESRD), the report indicates.

With further analysis, they found that for patients who had diabetes for 40 years 25.4 percent had low levels of urine protein and 9.4 percent had ESRD.

Predictors of low urine protein levels included longer diabetes duration, elevated glucose, elevated LDL cholesterol—the “bad” cholesterol—and High Blood Pressure, the researchers found. By contrast, young age at diabetes onset was tied to a reduced risk of low protein urine levels, which is consistent with findings from earlier studies.

Male gender was identified as risk factor for high protein levels in the urine, the report indicates.

“We are very pleased that the rate of (kidney) disease and (particularly) ESRD is relatively low,” Raile said.

However, it is “alarming” that high blood lipid levels and High Blood Pressure are often not treated adequately.

The team concludes that prompt diagnosis and treatment of abnormal lipid levels and High Blood Pressure is “mandatory in patients with type 1 diabetes.”

SOURCE: Diabetes Care, October 2007.

RELATED STORIES:
Phone contact with nurses linked with better outcomes for women with gestational diabetes   Death rate drops among Americans with diabetes -CDC   Correct treatment of common diabetic foot infections can reduce amputations   “Pre-diabetes,” diabetes rising among U.S. teens   Experimental bariatric surgery controls blood sugar in rats with diabetes   53 millions Americans might develop diabetes by 2025   New inflammation hormone link may pave way to study new drugs for type 2 diabetes   Diabetic retinopathy research could reduce screening costs   Liver fat gets a wake-up call that maintains blood sugar levels   Low testosterone levels could raise diabetes risk for men   Prosthetic lets diabetic get a foot up on life   Dealing with Diabetes, One Patient at a Time

Comments

[ + Post Your Own ]

Now you're in the public comment zone. What follows is not Armenian Medical Network's stuff; it comes from other people and we don't vouch for it. A reminder: By using this Web site you agree to accept our Terms of Service. Click here to read the Rules of Engagement.

There are no comments for this entry yet. [ + Comment here + ]