People with diabetes who are unable to keep their blood sugar and blood pressure levels under control are prone to developing chronic kidney disease.
Your kidneys clean and filter your blood and get rid of waste and water that your body doesn’t need. They also help control blood pressure. If your kidneys are damaged they are unable to remove the waste and extra fluid from your body.
Your blood pressure will be affected and so will the fluid balance of your body. You may experience swelling in the feet and ankles and over time, if the problem isn’t addressed, you are likely to become very ill.
Problems with your kidneys can develop slowly over many years and you may not even be aware that they are being damaged.
Therefore it’s very important that you have a blood and urine test every year to measure your kidney function.
There is more information about diabetic kidney disease on the Diabetes UK website: