Diabetes can damage multiple parts of your body, including your kidneys. Explore the link between kidney health and diabetes with this fun illustration.
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Your kidneys use filters made of tiny blood vessels to remove waste and excess water from your body.
Diabetes injures the small blood vessels in your kidneys so that they can&rsquo;t clean as well as they should.
Your body retains more water, waste and salt than it should, causing weight gain and ankle swelling.
Nerve damage may keep your bladder from emptying properly. Urine can back up and injure your kidneys. Your kidneys slowly begin failing. 
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What are the myths and facts behind diabetes? Find out by taking&nbsp;<a href="[BASEDOMAIN]/healthinfo/Story.aspx?StoryID=525b4c0e-75a5-46b1-916f-d5a44f9d3c97">our diabetes quiz.</a>
Reviewed 12/1/2023
Sources
<ul>
 <li>National Kidney Foundation. "Diabetes. A Major Risk Factor for Kidney Disease."&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/diabetes" target="_blank">https://www.kidney.org/atoz/content/diabetes</a>.</li>
 <li>National Kidney Foundation. "How Your Kidneys Work."&nbsp;<a href="https://www.kidney.org/kidneydisease/howkidneyswrk" target="_blank">https://www.kidney.org/kidneydisease/howkidneyswrk</a>.</li>
</ul>

Discover how diabetes can harm your kidneys

Just how much harm can diabetes cause your kidneys? Find out with this illustration. 