Top Preventing and Slowing Kidney Disease Blood Pressure Medicines Scientists have made great progress in developing methods that slow the onset and progression of kidney disease in people with diabetes. Low-Protein Diets A diet containing reduced amounts of protein may benefit people with kidney disease of diabetes. In people with diabetes, excessive consumption of protein may be harmful. Experts recommend that most patients with stage III or stage IV nephropathy consume moderate amounts of protein. A third treatment, known as intensive management or glycemic control, has shown great promise for people with type 1 diabetes, especially for those with early stages of nephropathy.
Intensive management is a treatment regimen that aims to keep blood glucose levels close to normal.
The regimen includes frequently testing blood sugar, administering insulin on the basis of food intake and exercise, following a diet and exercise plan, and frequently consulting a health care team. A number of studies have pointed to the beneficial effects of intensive management. The DCCT, conducted from 1983 to 1993, involved 1,441 participants who had type 1 diabetes. In the Minnesota Medical School trial, researchers examined kidney tissues of long-term diabetics who received healthy kidney transplants. After 5 years, patients who followed an intensive regimen developed significantly fewer lesions in their glomeruli than did patients not following an intensive regimen.