Diabetes

Both types of diabetes can lead to kidney disease.
             Only about 1 in 20 people with diabetes has type 1 diabetes, which tends to occur in young adults and children. Type 1 used to be known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or juvenile diabetes. In type 1 diabetes, the body stops producing insulin. People with type 1 diabetes must take daily injections or use an insulin pump. They also control blood glucose levels with meal planning and physical activity. Type 1 diabetes is more likely to lead to kidney failure. Twenty to 40 percent of people with type 1 diabetes develop kidney failure by the age of 50. Some develop kidney failure before the age of 30.
             About 95 percent of people with diabetes have type2 diabetes, once known as noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes. Many people with type 2 diabetes do not respond normally to their own or to injected insulin, a condition called insulin resistance. Type 2 diabetes occurs more often in people over the age of 40, and many people with type 2 diabetes are overweight. Many also are not aware that they have diabetes. Some people with type 2 control their blood glucose with meal planning and physical activity. Other must take pills that stimulate production of glucose, or slow absorption of carbohydrate from the gastrointestinal tract. Still others require injections of insulin. .
             Diabetic kidney disease takes many years to develop. In some people, the filtering of the kidneys is actually higher than normal in the first few years of their diabetes. This process has been called hyperfiltration.
             Over several years, people who are developing kidney disease will have small amounts of the blood protein albumin begin to leak into their urine. At its first stage, this condition has been called microalbuminuria. The kidneys filtration function usually remains normal during this period.