Chronic kidney disease (CKD) often lurks unnoticed until it reaches an advanced stage, eventually requiring dialysis or a kidney transplant to prolong life. Diabetes is the number one cause of CKD. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in every  three adults with diabetes also has CKD, and 170 people living with diabetes start treatment for kidney failure every day. Understanding how diabetes leads to kidney disease can potentially help you delay, or even avoid, kidney failure.*

How diabetes can lead to kidney disease

Diabetes, whether type 1 or type 2, poses a substantial risk for kidney disease. High blood sugar levels damage blood vessels and nephrons, the kidney’s filtering units, gradually impairing kidney function. High blood sugar lowers the elasticity of your blood vessels, causing them to narrow and hinder blood flow. 

This reduces blood and oxygen supply through your body, and increases your risk of high blood pressure, also called hypertension, which can further exacerbate blood vessel and kidney damage. Early stages of CKD often show no symptoms, necessitating proactive screening by healthcare providers.

Tips for maintaining kidney health with diabetes

Managing healthy blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels is pivotal not only for kidney health but also for cardiovascular well-being. Some of the best and simplest tips for supporting kidney health when you have diabetes include:

• Regular physical activity, through formal exercise, sports, dancing, or something else
• Adherence to dietary recommendations from your doctor and renal dietitian
• Maintaining your medication regimen for lowering blood pressure and any other medical conditions you have

Monitoring your blood sugar and blood pressure levels regularly, along with quitting or avoiding smoking, can also significantly reduce your risk of CKD progression.

Preventative measures for prediabetics

If you’re prediabetic, or know someone who is, preventing the condition from progressing to type 2 diabetes is a critical step to averting the development of kidney disease in the first place. 

Lifestyle modifications such as losing weight (about 5-7% of your body weight), eating more fruits and vegetables and less sodium, and increasing physical activity (to about 150 minutes per week) can significantly reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and subsequent kidney complications. 

Programs like the CDC’s National Diabetes Prevention Program offer structured guidance for adopting healthier lifestyles to prevent diabetes and its associated complications.

By understanding the interplay between diabetes and kidney health, and implementing preventative strategies, you can mitigate your risk of CKD, its progression to kidney failure, and its debilitating consequences. 

*Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (n.d.) Diabetes and Chronic Kidney Disease. https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/managing/diabetes-kidney-disease.html 

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