Prevention

To reduce your risk of developing diabetic nephropathy:

• Keep regular appointments for diabetes management. Keep annual appointments — or more-frequent appointments if recommended by your health care team — to monitor how well you are managing your diabetes and to screen for diabetic nephropathy and other complications.
• Treat your diabetes. With effective treatment of diabetes, you may prevent or delay diabetic nephropathy.
• Manage high blood pressure or other medical conditions. If you have high blood pressure or other conditions that increase your risk of kidney disease, work with your doctor to control them.
• Follow instructions on over-the-counter medications. Follow instructions on the packages of nonprescription pain relievers such as aspirin and nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, such as naproxen (Aleve) and ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin IB, others). For people with diabetic nephropathy, taking these types of pain relievers can lead to kidney damage.
• Maintain a healthy weight. If you're at a healthy weight, work to maintain it by being physically active most days of the week. If you need to lose weight, talk with your doctor about weight-loss strategies, such as increasing daily physical activity and consuming fewer calories.
• Don't smoke. Cigarette smoking can damage your kidneys and make existing kidney damage worse. If you're a smoker, talk to your doctor about strategies for quitting smoking. Support groups, counseling and some medications can all help you to stop.