What is Diabetic Nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy is seen commonly in our daily life, but most people are familiar with it. The following introduces some details about this disease, a part may help you greatly. 
Signs and symptoms
Kidney failure provoked by glomerulosclerosis leads to fluid filtration deficits and other disorders of kidney function. There is an increase in blood pressure (hypertension) and fluid retention in the body plus a reduced plasma oncotic pressure causes edema. Other complications may bearteriosclerosis of the renal artery and proteinuria.
Throughout its early course, diabetic nephropathy has no symptoms. They develop in late stages and may be a result of excretion of high amounts of protein in the urine or due to renal failure:
edema: swelling, usually around the eyes in the mornings; later, general body swelling may result, such as swelling of the legs
foamy appearance or excessive frothing of the urine (caused by the proteinuria)
unintentional weight gain (from fluid accumulation)
anorexia (poor appetite)
nausea and vomiting
malaise (general ill feeling)
fatigue
headache
frequent hiccups
The first laboratory abnormality is a positive microalbuminuria test. Most often, the diagnosis is suspected when a routine urinalysis of a person with diabetes shows too much protein in the urine (proteinuria). The urinalysis may also show glucose in the urine, especially if blood glucose is poorly controlled. Serum creatinine and BUN may increase as kidney damage progresses.
A kidney biopsy confirms the diagnosis, although it is not always necessary if the case is straightforward, with a documented progression of proteinuria over time and presence of diabetic retinopathy on examination of the retina of the eyes.
Cause
The word diabetes means "passing through", referring to the polyuria (abnormal increase of urine production), a symptom historically present in those affected by the disease. When the level of blood glucose rises beyond the kidney's capacity to reabsorb glucose from the renal ultrafiltrate, glucose remains diluted in the fluid, raising its osmotic pressure and causing more water to be carried out, thus, increasing the excreted urine volume. The increased volume dilutes the sodium chloride in the urine, signalling the macula densa to release more renin, causing vasoconstriction, a survival mechanism to retain water by passing less blood through the kidneys. Because the kidney is nurtured exclusively by the blood it filtrates, the vasoconstriction also reduces the nutrients supplied to it, causing infarct of its tissues and reduction ofrenal function.
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