3.17a_08 Diabetic Kidney Disease

Diabetic Kidney Disease
Session Overview
Description
Diabetes is a common cause of renal disease in the UK and all patients with diabetes should be regularly screened for kidney disease. This session will use a case-based approach to discuss how to diagnose and treat diabetic nephropathy, who needs referral to secondary care and the use of statins to treat high cholesterol in patients with diabetic nephropathy.

Learning Objectives
By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Describe how to interpret urine ACR results
• Describe how to manage microalbuminuria
• Describe how to classify diabetic kidney disease and how to monitor it in primary care
• Understand when to refer to nephrology

It has been estimated that 25-50% of patients with diabetes develop chronic kidney disease (CKD).

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is defined as a reduction in kidney function or structural damage (or both) present for more than 3 months, with associated health implications.

The literature in this area seems to use the terms CKD and diabetic nephropathy interchangeably, presumably as most diabetic patients with CKD will have diabetic nephropathy. Both terms will also be used in this session.

This session will use a case-based approach to discuss how to diagnose and treat diabetic nephropathy, who needs referral to secondary care and the use of statins to treat high cholesterol in patients with diabetic nephropathy.