Diabetes is a serious metabolic disorder that facilitates the progression of many illnesses, while considerably reducing life expectancy. In addition to the high risk of heart disease, renal insufficiency is another very serious, albeit lesser known, complication of diabetes.
The risk of type 2 diabetes is closely linked to being overweight, which is measured using the Body Mass Index (BMI). Those who are overweight (BMI of 25 to 30) have an eight times higher risk of developing diabetes, a number that rises to more than 20 times amongst obese people (BMI of over 30).
Nearly 80% of diabetics are obese, which makes diabetes one of the main types of collateral damage associated with the current global obesity epidemic. And this tendency is far from over: according to a recent report published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP), one out of every 10 adults is currently diabetic and that number could reach as high as three in 10 between now and 2050.
This dramatic increase in the number of new type 2 diabetics who develop the disease at an early age (before 65) is alarming, because diabetes considerably increases the risk of many serious illnesses than can take years off a person's life.
RENAL DANGER
The primary characteristic of diabetes is a surplus of sugar in the blood, which is caused by a reduction in insulin levels. This hyperglycemia is extremely bad for blood vessels and it is for that reason that diabetics are often at a high risk for heart disease. But in addition to these cardiovascular complications, about 15% of people with type 2 diabetes will also develop what is known as diabetic nephropathy, which is a type of renal insufficiency caused by gradual loss of kidney function. This is serious, as the kidneys play a pivotal role in how the body functions: every day, more than 70 litres of blood are filtered by the kidneys, which allows for precise control over the concentration of essential substances while eliminating all waste that the body doesn't want.
For diabetics with renal insufficiency, the only treatment option is receiving dialysis several times per week. This is a serious health problem: about 55% of all patients requiring dialysis are diabetic, which generates costs estimated at more than $12 billion per year in the United States alone.
FILTRATION CONTROL
So how can the insufficient secretion of insulin and a surplus of blood sugar have such a negative impact on an organ like the kidney? Considering the disruption of how the blood vessels function when they are afflicted with hyperglycemia, it has long been considered that renal insufficiency is the result of this attack on the vascular system. However, recent studies have shown that the loss of kidney function is more likely related to the direct role that insulin plays with the cells involved in blood filtration.
Researchers have observed that a certain class of renal cells, called podocytes, require insulin to maintain their organization, allowing the pieces involved in blood filtration to remain intact and function normally. When the levels of insulin are reduced, because of diabetes, for example, these cells become incapable of maintaining the seal on the filtration system, ultimately leading to a loss of kidney function.
These observations show how important the control of insulin secretion and blood sugar levels are to maintaining good health. Because of the seriousness of diabetes and the accompanying complications, keep in mind that it is possible to prevent these diseases through healthy lifestyle habits. In this case, the control of body weight, combined with regular physical activity and a diet rich in vegetables and whole grains, could prevent up to 90% of cases of type 2 diabetes.
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