Diabetic nephropathy

Diabetic nephropathy accounts for almost a third of all causes of ESRD. Microalbuminuria screening among diabetics can offer early detection of incipient nephropathy. Aggressive treatment with ACE inhibitors may delay the onset of overt renal failure or delay its progression. Furthermore, intensive control of blood glucose has also been proven to prevent the microvascular complications of diabetes and should be pursued in both IDDM and NIDDM. The high association of diabetes mellitus with hypertension presents another problem to the clinician. It is necessary to control blood pressure to prevent further progression of renal failure. The choice of antihypertensive medications, however, becomes a therapeutic dilemma because of the metabolic and lipid disturbances that some drugs can cause. ACE inhibitors, CCBs, alpha-agonists, and low-dose diuretics, alone or in combination, may be tried to normalize blood pressures. Although beta-blockers are widely used and effective in nondiabetics, these agents should be considered the drugs of last resort because of their adverse effects, which are particularly troublesome for diabetics. Moderate protein restriction should also be advocated as a helpful adjunct to therapy.