What causes kidney failure?

What causes chronic kidney disease?  And how can we protect ourselves from kidney disease/failure?  The top two causes of chronic kidney disease are diabetes and high blood pressure.  The good news is that there are things we can do to protect our kidneys and slow down/prevent chronic kidney disease and kidney failure.

According to the experts at Center for Disease Control (CDC), we can protect our kidneys by

keeping blood glucose numbers within normal range.  Diabetes and its high blood sugars damage the kidneys.  Think of high blood sugar as a thick, sweet syrupy liquid which “pickles” a person’s organs.  As the sugary blood volume circulates through the body, it does damage.  If we keep our blood sugar levels within a normal level, the kidneys can function much better and not be damaged by hyperglycemia (high blood sugar)  Work with your doctor to control your blood sugar.  For newly diagnosed diabetic patients, a diabetes education class gives valuable, proven strategies you can use to protect your body (and kidneys) from high blood sugars.  More information about how diabetes causes kidney problems at http://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/pubs/tcyd/kidney.htm