An Inexpensive Method to Diagnose Incipient Diabetic Nephropathy in Developing Countries
- Vijay Viswanathan, MD, PHD,
- Mamtha B. Nair, MSC,
- Sheethal Suresh, MSC,
- Snehalatha Chamukuttan, MSC, DSC and
- Ramachandran Ambady, MD, PHD, DSC, FRCP
- From the Diabetes Research Centre, Royapuram, Chennai, India
- Address correspondence to Dr. Vijay Viswanathan, MD, PhD, Diabetes Research Centre, WHO Collaborating Centre for Research, Education, and Training in Diabetes, 4 Main Rd., Royapuram Chennai, 600 013, India. E-mail: dr_vijay{at}vsnl.com
Diabetic patients with microalbuminuria are at a high risk for developing overt nephropathy and cardiovascular complications (1). Constant monitoring is mandatory to prevent vascular complications. Due to socioeconomic reasons, many patients in developing countries cannot afford to regularly test their blood glucose. In such a scenario, the test of urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio or albumin excretion rate to diagnose diabetic albuminuria is beyond the reach of many patients. In addition, only a few speciality centers provide facilities for doing these tests. Urine protein dipstick testing is, however, easily available to most patients. We aimed to evaluate whether a dipstick test showing “trace” for urinary protein reliably indicated the presence …
