Having diabetes increases your risk of cardiovascular disease, eye disease and kidney disease. With regular checks you can reduce the risk of any of these complications.
We are therefore excited to inform you of a new service that will allow patients with diabetes to test their kidney function from home. We did this last summer and are doing it again this Spring
As part of the diabetes annual review, patients should have a simple urine test. This test looks at theurinary albumin:creatinine ratio (ACR). The ACR test checks kidney function by looking for particles of protein in urine called albumin. If there is albumin in urine, this means there is an increased risk of kidney disease and heart disease. If this is picked up at an early stage, patients can be put on medication that will reduce risk of any complications.
To help patients perform this test, we are working with a company called Healthy.io, who provide a Minuteful Kidney urine test kit and an accompanying free-to-download app that allows people to do the test at home. The test is really easy to do and only requires a smartphone and a kit that will be sent to your home.
Healthy.io will be contacting eligible patients in the next few weeks to get kits sent out. To find out more about kidney disease or the test, see here: https://lp.healthy.io/minuteful_info/