Kidney Health Testing for People With Diabetes

Overview

If you have diabetes, your kidneys could become damaged over time. Diabetic kidney disease is sometimes called diabetic nephropathy. In severe cases, it can lead to kidney failure.

Diabetic kidney disease usually has no symptoms in the early stages. So it's important to have regular tests. They can alert you and your doctor to changes in your kidneys' health. Together, you can work on ways to treat your kidney disease and keep it from getting worse.

How is diabetic kidney disease diagnosed?

Diabetic kidney disease is diagnosed and watched over time using yearly tests that check how well your kidneys are working. These include a test that checks for a protein (albumin) in the urine. A blood test checks how well your kidneys are filtering waste from your blood. This is called the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR).

An albumin urine test can detect very small amounts of protein in the urine. This allows doctors to find kidney disease early. Starting treatment early can prevent further damage to the kidneys.

The eGFR is measured using a formula that compares a person's size, age, and sex to blood creatinine levels. As kidney disease gets worse, the eGFR number goes down.

When your doctor will start checking your kidney function depends on the type of diabetes you have. After testing starts, it should be done every year.^{footnote 1}

Kidney function testing

Type of diabetes	When to start yearly testing
Type 1 diabetes	After you've had diabetes for 5 years
Type 2 diabetes	When you are diagnosed with diabetes
Diabetes during childhood	After age 10 and after the child has had diabetes for 5 years

If your doctor thinks that the protein in your urine or a decreased eGFR may be caused by a disease other than diabetes, other blood and urine tests may be done. Some people may have a small sample of kidney tissue removed and checked. This is called a kidney biopsy.