Week 1: DEFINE YOUR DISEASE 

Hey guys! Welcome to my blog! I am currently in nursing school at the University of Washington and I am developing this blog for one of my classes. I want to start a blog about diabetic nephropathy because I am passionate about health, kidneys, and diabetes. In fact, last quarter I was in charge of developing community classes for people diagnosed with diabetes to learn about the basics of the disease. So on this blog I am going to do my best to break down difficult medical language and explain the basics of diabetic nephrology. I hope you have fun...

Diabetic nephropathy is a common complication of diabetes. But what does nephropathy mean? Medical words can be so confusing. So here we go...

Nephropathy means kidney damage. So diabetic nephropathy means damage to your kidneys caused by diabetes. The kidneys are full of tiny blood vessels that filter waste from your blood and deliver oxygen to your kidneys. High blood sugar from uncontrolled diabetes destroys these tiny blood vessels. Once these vessels are destroyed the kidney can't work properly. If this continues the kidney will stop working altogether and fail. 

Now, not everyone with diabetes has diabetic nephropathy. However, there are certain things that will put you at risk for kidney damage. If you smoke, have high blood pressure, or have high cholesterol you have a greater risk of damaging your kidneys. Native Americans, African Americans and Hispanics also have increased risk. 

Here are some steps you can take to prevent diabetic nephropathy...

• Keep your blood sugar levels in the target range. This will help keep the tiny blood vessels in your kidney healthy. 
• Work with your provider to keep your blood pressure under 140/80. 
• Eat healthy foods and exercise regularly. Keeping yourself in good health will protect those tiny vessels in the kidney. 
• Don't smoke or use tobacco products. 

I hope you find this first post helpful! As the weeks go by I will be posting more in depth information about diabetic nephropathy and I hope you will join me. If you have any questions or comments you want me to specifically address please post in the comments section below. 

Talk to you soon! 

Lewis, Dirksen, Heitkemper, and Bucher. Medical-Surgical Nursing: Assessment and management of Clinical Problems. 9th edition. St. Louis, Missouri: Elsevier; 2014.