Diabetes: the link to kidney disease

You have two kidneys, which are tasked with filtering your blood. Their goal is to help you keep nutrients and blood and filter out harmful toxins.

But what does Type 2 Diabetes have to do with your kidneys?

To understand, we need to understand the mechanics of the kidney. The kidney has millions of filters called glomerules. When blood passes through them, they trap all the harmful elements. These are then eliminated through urine.

Think of them as the filter in your air conditioner.

Type 2 Diabetes is an outcome of energy imbalance in your body. Excess energy, which is converted into fat, starts to deposit in their filters.

When this occurs, it reduces the effectiveness of these filters. Effectiveness in this case is measured by the ability of these filters to discharge blood back into the body, also known as GFR or glomerular filteration rate.

Typically the GFR is above 90 mL per minute. When fat accumulates in your kidneys, it reduces this rate gradually.

Your kidneys are not able to process the same amount of fluid.

In case you are wondering, your kidneys filter close to 190 litres of fluid per day. When the efficiency falls, the toxic waste builds up in your kidney.

As a result, toxins will build up in your blood because the kidney is no longer able to eliminate this waste. You will see this show up as creatinine or urea in your blood markers.

So what can you do?

The efficiency of the kidney, once lost is hard to reverse. You can however easily reverse Type 2 Diabetes.

So test your blood sugar, especially if you are above 35. Look for morning fasting and glycated haemoglobin or HbA1c.

If your weight is higher than normal and your blood sugar numbers are high, change your lifestyle.

Type 2 Diabetes does not go away on its own. The damage is not easily visible.

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