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Kidney disease

What are the symptoms?

The major symptoms of kidney disease can include:

  • Blood or protein in the urine;
  • Producing very little urine;
  • Salt and fluid retention which can lead to high blood pressure and swelling;
  • Anaemia which can cause fatigue, dizziness and lack of concetration;
  • Ureamia a build up of wastes in the blood which can cause nausea and vomiting.

Individuals with diabetic renal disease may develop other complications of diabetes such as poor vision, arterial disease in the limbs which may be severe enough to cause gangrene, heart disease and impaired function of the nerves to the limbs and sometimes the internal organs. These complications may affect decisions on how to treat chronic renal failure if it develops.

Diabetic nephropathy is one of the major complications of diabetes mellitus in which there is damage to the glomeruli, the structures which filter blood so that waste products can be eliminated.

In many individuals affected by diabetic nephropathy, the onset of kidney disease is asymptomatic until it is well advanced. At this stage symptoms of chronic renal failure such as nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite and itching develop. In the silent phase of diabetic nephropathy the condition may be detected by finding excess protein in the urine. The finding is an important warning that diabetic nephropathy is likely to develop in twelve to fifteen years. It is important to have regular screening for microalbuminuria.

View Background Background  |  What are the causes? View What are the causes?

Medical text written October 2000 by Dr J Bradley. Additional material on Diabetes and Kidney disease written February 2003 by Contact a Family. Approved February 2003 by the Medical Advisory Board (Consultant Nephrologist) of the National Kidney Research Fund, UK. Last reviewed May 2005 by Dr J Bradley, Consultant Nephrologist, Director of Renal Medicine, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK.

 

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