Diabetic nephropathy in the Arab Gulf countries.

While the prevalence of diabetes mellitus is increasing worldwide, one third of the diabetic patients will eventually develop chronic kidney disease. The aim of this review is to present the available data on diabetic nephropathy and its complications in the Arab Gulf countries. This will eventually help to raise the awareness of both government and healthcare systems towards the substantial value of prevention, early detection as well as proper management of both diabetes mellitus and chronic kidney disease. This could be achieved by funding large-scale longitudinal studies, improving training programs (both research and clinical) and increasing the role of media in fighting this epidemic.