Abstract

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is one of the most frequent and severe complications of diabetes mellitus (DM) and is associated with increased morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Thirty to 40 percent of patients with diabetes mellitus develop diabetic nephropathy. Diabetic nephropathy is diagnosed by persistent albuminuria on two or more occasions, separated at least by three months on early morning urine samples. Persistent albuminuria is greater than 300 mg over 24 hours or greater than200 micrograms per minute. Aim: The study is undertaken to compare the severity of nephropathy with the duration of diabetes mellitus. Result: In the present study, out of 150 patients, 68 (45.33%) had normal albuminuria, 46 (30.67%) had microalbuminuria and 36 (24%) had macroalbuminuria. In this study there is a rise in prevalence of hypertension and cardiovascular disease and retinopathy as proteinuria progresses from normal albuminuria to microalbuminuria to macroalbuminuria. Conclusion: This study indicates that patients with microalbuminuria must be regarded as a high risk group not only because of the increased risk of progression to nephropathy but also because of the raised prevalence of retinopathy, hypertension and neuropathy.

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