Diabetes

             Each year in the United States, nearly 100,000 people are diagnosed with kidney failure, a serious condition in which the kidneys fail to rid the body of wastes. Kidney failure is the final stage of a slow deterioration of the kidneys, a process known as nephropathy.
             Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure, accounting for more than 40 percent of new cases. Even when drugs and diet are able to control diabetes, the disease can lead to nephropathy and kidney failure. Most people with diabetes do not develop nephropathy that is severe enough to cause kidney failure. About 17 million people in the United States have diabetes, and over 100,000 people are living with kidney failure as a result of diabetes.
             People with kidney failure undergo either dialysis, which substitutes for some of the filtering functions of the kidneys, or transplantation to receive a healthy donor kidney. .
             African Americans, American Indians, and Hispanic Americans develop diabetes, nephropathy, and kidney failure at rates higher than average. Scientists have not been able to explain these higher rates. Nor can they explain fully the factors leading to diabetic nephropathy factors including heredity, diet, and other medical conditions, such as high blood pressure and high levels of blood glucose increase the risk of that person with diabetes will progress to kidney failure.
             There are two types of diabetes. In patients with either type, the body does not properly process and use food. The human body normally converts food to glucose, the simple sugar that is the main source of energy for the body's cells. To enter the cells, glucose needs the help of insulin, a hormone produced by the pancreas. When a person does not make enough insulin or the body cannot process glucose, and it builds up in the bloodstream. High levels of glucose in the blood lead to a diagnosis of diabetes.