Diabetes can damage your kidneys, which makes it increasingly difficult for them to clean your blood properly. However, it can take many years to develop kidney disease and, by the time symptoms appear, the damage can be severe. The longer you keep diabetes in check, the healthier your kidneys will be.
While general recommendations for preventing and controlling diabetes involve lifestyle changes such as controlling your weight, eating healthier, exercising and, sometimes, taking medication, regular doctor visits are essential. This will help keep your symptoms and treatment on track and help guide you through the health care system to get the multifaceted care that control of diabetes requires.
Such a layered approach works, and UPMC Cole in Coudersport, Potter County, is a great example of that success. Cole officials in part credit their Patient-Centered Medical Home, which won national honors last year, with helping the region maintain long-term health, especially with diabetes management.
In fact, the number of diabetes hospitalizations in the state increased 13 percent from 2000 to 2016, but those in Cole’s service area decreased, according to the PA Health Care Cost Containment Council. Potter, McKean, and Tioga counties all saw a drop in the total number of hospitalizations for diabetes and the hospitalization rates per 10,000 residents; Cameron County didn’t have any reported numbers in the year 2000 to compare.
UPMC Cole’s primary care providers are credited with increased screening and testing for diabetes. They refer newly diagnosed diabetics or ones who are struggling to control it to diabetes education and nutrition counseling.
The hospital’s dietitians and diabetes educator do public outreach to raise awareness, and the hospital provides diabetes management support group meetings for participants to network with each other.
If you have diabetes, it’s important to know the signs and symptoms of kidney disease, which, according to Mayo Clinic, include:
- Nausea and vomiting
- Loss of appetite
- Fatigue and weakness
- Sleep problems
- Changes in how much you urinate
- Decreased mental sharpness
- Muscle twitches and cramps
- Swelling of feet and ankles
- Persistent itching
- Chest pain, if fluid builds up around the lining of the heart
- Shortness of breath, if fluid builds up in the lungs
- High blood pressure that’s difficult to control
Because these symptoms can be caused by other illnesses, it’s clear that regular monitoring by health care professionals can help ward off serious health care problems. For patients with health conditions such as diabetes that cause kidney disease, the American Diabetes Association and the National Institutes of Health recommend regular tests for the presence of certain levels of waste products and proteins that would indicate kidney damage.