Diabetic Nephropathy patients often complain about bubbles in urine. What does it mean and is it related to their diseases?

For normal people, there may be few bubbles in urine. However, if there are too many bubbles in their urine, it may indicate some medical conditions.

Large bubbles

If these bubbles are not of equal size and last for a short time, it is usually due to glucose, sugar and mineral salts in urine. This condition is usually caused by diabetes.

Fine bubbles

If patients find fine bubbles in their urine and these bubbles can persist for a long time, it may indicate massive proteinuria.

Why do diabetic nephropathy patients have bubbles in urine?

In the first condition, as diabetic nephropathy patients have high glucose level, lots of glucose will leak in the crude urine. This will elevate osmotic pressure in crude urine. Thus, kidney tubule fails to reabsorb the glucose and fluid in crude urine, so patients can find bubbles in their urine.

In the second condition, high blood glucose will strain kidney. With time, it will cause damage to kidney. When electrostatic barrier can’t function well, protein will leak in the urine.

Dietary therapy for bubbles in urine

1. Reduce intake of fat and sugar

Patients should stick to low fat diets. They can choose limited olive oil and peanut oil as their energy supply, as these oils are rich in unsaturated fatty acid.

2. Keep low salt diet

Patients should keep low salt diets, especially when they have high blood pressure or swelling.

3. Limit protein consumption

To reduce the burden of kidney, patients should choose some foods high in calories but low in protein, such as sweet potato and pumpkin. Low-protein diet can slow down kidney function decline and decrease the risk of high potassium level and metabolic acidosis.

Besides attentions to their diets, diabetic nephropathy patients also need to take timely treatment and keep a healthy lifestyle to reduce bubbles in urine.