Research Progress of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Combination of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the Treatment of Diabetes Nephropathy

Diabetes nephropathy (DKD) refers to the microvascular disease caused by diabetes, which can affect the whole kidney (including glomerulus, renal tubules, renal interstitium, etc.). Its clinical manifestations are usually from less to more proteinuria, hypertension, progressive decline in renal function, and eventually progress to end-stage renal disease. The Western medicine guidelines advocate comprehensive intervention for multiple risk factors, mainly based on improving unhealthy lifestyle habits, controlling blood sugar, blood pressure, and blood lipids, while using drugs with dual effects of lowering blood sugar and protecting target organs such as the heart and kidneys. A very small number of patients can choose surgical treatment. According to clinical syndrome differentiation, combined with historical literature, Chinese medicine will name it “Xiaxiao”, “Shenxiao”, “Turbid Urine”, “Edema”, “Longbi”, etc. according to its original disease. Based on the etiology and pathogenesis of the above diseases, we have treated diabetes nephropathy through syndrome differentiation, and achieved good clinical results. This article reads the literature, starts from the thinking of traditional Chinese medicine, diverges the clinical diagnosis and treatment ideas, and provides further TCM treatment plans for diabetes nephropathy.