Management

Kidney disease in people with diabetes is treated with self-management practices, such as attaining an ideal weight and target blood sugars, not smoking, following a heart- and kidney-healthy meal plan, and taking certain medications.

Your blood glucose meter is an important tool in your diabetes management. Its main purpose is to record your blood sugar at a particular time – whether you’re in a fasting state (before a meal), after a meal or during the night.

If you take insulin or a diabetes medication that increases insulin produced by the pancreas (such as glyburide, gliclazide or repaglinide), you may be at risk of severe hypoglycemia. Read on to learn some things your family and friends can do to help you manage severe low blood sugar.

There are different levels of low blood sugar – mild, moderate and severe – and they are managed differently. It is especially important to know about low blood sugar emergencies so that you or a family member, friend, caregiver or co-worker can help out in this situation.

Glucagon is a hormone released from the pancreas that raises a person’s blood sugar by converting stored glycogen in the liver into glucose.

You may already know that diabetes can affect your kidneys and that high blood sugars, along with other risk factors, can cause kidney disease. That’s why it is important to have regular tests for kidney disease to detect it at an early stage, as there may be few symptoms at that time.

Kidney disease is a common complication of diabetes. Read about diabetes and kidney disease in this article, including symptoms, tests that diagnose it and the five stages of kidney disease.