Progression of diabetic nephropathy.

Although deterioration of renal function in diabetic nephropathy varies considerably from one diabetic to another, its rate is constant in individuals. For each patient there is a linear relation between period (months) which elapses from the time serum creatinine becomes greater than 200 mumol/l and the inverse the inverse of the serum-creatinine. The observation is of practical importance in predicting the time at which end-stage renal failure will develop, so that treatment can be planned in advance.