Diabetic Nephropathy
Microangiopathy with neuropathy, retinopathy and nephropathy
are complications known to develop in the majority of long-term diabetics.
Renal failure causes death in up to 40% of diabetics, being 17 times
more common than in non-diabetics.
The better the control of diabetes, the longer the survival is and the
more the chance to manifest nephropathy and other microangiopathy will
be. This explains the prevelence of this disease in countries with better
health programs.
The disease affects both juvenile and adult onset diabetics, but
juvenile diabetics manifest the disease more; since they survive longer
with the disease. Adult onset diabetics usually die earlier with coronary or
cerebral strokes.
In Juvenile diabetics, nephropathy passes into 6 stages: 1- very
early stage in which GFR is supernormal, 2- stage of microalbuminuria, 3-
stage of clinical proteinuria, 4- stage of nephrotic syndrome, and
hypertension, 5- stage of renal impairment then, 6- stage of end stage
renal failure.
In type II diabetics, the renal disease is usually well established
when first discovered clinically.