Long term kidney damage is often referred to as Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD). Not all types of kidney damage belong to the same category. Few may involve certain genetic problems while some may involve diabetes and some may not. Presence or absence of diabetes does play a significant role in predicting the prognosis of CKD. Our Kidney Dietitian – Dr Rachana Jasani, explains this with help of an example:
The above trend is of a 63 year old male with diabetes. He often had complains of high blood pressure, pedal edema (swelling on feet), breathlessness, nausea, weight loss, elevated serum potassium, etc. Now this is attributable to the presence of diabetes. Our kidney dietitian explains why:
- High blood sugar, which is a hallmark of uncontrolled diabetes, damages the delicate blood vessels in the kidneys due to which kidneys ability to filter the fluids and waste products is affected
- Insulin is the hormone that helps in shifting the potassium from the bloodstream into the body cells. In diabetes; especially type 1 diabetes, there is inadequate or almost no insulin to do this job. This leads to potassium rising potassium levels in the bloodstream (to know more about tips to control serum potassium, click here)
- High blood sugar also leads to early cardiovascular complications including mortality
In essence, diabetes not only predisposes individuals to developing CKD but also makes the disease more aggressive and increases the risk of severe complications as well as mortality (death). Hence, this patient had to be initiated on dialysis within 3 months of hitting CKD stage 5.
The above image shows the trend of renal parameters especially urea, creatinine, electrolytes, phosphorus, etc in a 65 year old male – with no history of diabetes. Here, you can observe the patient has been able to stabilise his parameters over 8-10 months inspite of having advanced kidney disease i.e. CKD stage 5. He not only has a better hemoglobin levels but also better levels of electrolytes. In this case, patient neither had complains of weight loss nor loss of appetitie nor fatigue nor swelling/ breathlessness. Hence, the initiation of dialysis was postponed and the patient is on CKD stage 5 since 9 months.
According to our kidney dietitian Dr Rachana Jasani, there is a profound difference in the prognosis of CKD due to presence of diabetes. The above is a classical comparison between diabetic and non-diabetic kidney disease in patients belonging to same gender and same age group. These are real life cases and depict the outcomes as per real scenario.
In conclusion, the prognosis of CKD in patients with diabetes is poorer as compared to ones without diabetes. However, by keeping diabetes in control the prognosis can be improved. To improve your blood sugar levels through diet and lifestyle management, you may connect with us on 7208363223.
We also offer healthy recipes for chronic kidney disease including breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner as well as Indian sweet recipes. To avail these recipes, click here
