Measurable kidney damage is found in 43 percent of Type I diabetics who have had their disease longer than five years162 and in 25 percent of those with Type II diabetes for 12 years.163 Diabetes is the most common cause of kidney failure in the United States. Microalbuminuria occurs when trace amounts of a protein called albumin begin to leak through the damaged filtering structures of the kidneys. The presence of microalbumin in the urine is often an early warning of kidney disease, but can also be present for other reasons. The important microalbumin test should be done at least yearly in those who have had diabetes for five years or longer. The test will help those who have had diabetes a relatively short time but have already started to spill microalbumin.
Proteinuria is the spillage of larger quantities of protein.
A rising blood creatinine . As damaged kidneys have more trouble cleansing the blood, creatinine levels rise. Dialysis or a kidney transplant . These technologies replace the severely damaged kidneys in cleansing the blood. Transplant organs are scare and the operations are costly.