Since insulin is the hormone regulating the blood sugar level, diabetes will cause the blood sugar to vary heavily which in turn may cause problems in many of your other body parts.

What happens in the kidneys when you have diabetes?

With the condition diabetes mellitus, small blood vessels in yur body become damaged. In the kidneys, this will mean that your blood cannot be cleansed properly (cleansing being the main function of your kidneys). The effect is that your body will retain a higher level of water and salts than for people without the condition. This in turn can have the effect that you gain weight, your ankles may swell, there may be protein in your urine and you may have a build-up of waste products in your bloodstream.

Another typical effect of diabetes is that it causes nerve damage. As an effect from this, you may encounter difficulties emptying the bladder which in turn will result in a bladder pressure building up which can eventually harm your kidneys.

Another side effect of the bladder problem is that when urine stays in the bladder for a longer than normal period, there is a risk you will develop an infection through the quick growth of bacteria in the high sugar level urine.

How high is the risk of a diabetic developing kidney disease?

Statistically, around 30-35% of type-1 diabetes patients will eventually suffer from a kidney failure and for type 2 patients, the range is wider, 15-40% approximately.

Early symptoms of diabetic kidney disease

The first sign of a diabetes kidney problem is usually an increase of albumin in your urine. This can be present very early and certainly long before a normal diabetic doctor's test will show positive for kidney disease. So testing for albumin annually is a very good safety measure and a routine for blood glucose monitoring is also recommended.

Swelling of the ankles and weight gain, an increase in late night bladder emptying and an increased blood pressure are all also early signs of kidney problems for a diabetic. Having your urine and blood tested and blood pressure checked up on annually, are important precautions for a diabetes patient.

Diabetes kidney problems - the later symptoms

When your kidneys start to fail, the BUN (Blood Urea Nitrogen) level will rise and so will the creatine-level in your bloodstream as well. Typical symptoms are vomiting, fatigue, weakness, nausea, cramps in your legs and anemia. You may also notice that your required amount of insulin tends to go down due to the fact that your kidneys no longer break down insulin as efficient as they used to. If you notice several of these signs, it is imperative that you see your doctor immediately.