Microalbuminuria, which occurs in the early stages of diabetic nephropathy, can improve in some patients after active treatment, while once renal function damage occurs, it progresses much faster than other glomerular diseases. The progression of diabetic nephropathy to end-stage renal failure is faster than that of general kidney disease, approximately 14 times faster than that of other kidney diseases.
Clinical observations have also found that when diabetic nephropathy progresses to end-stage (renal failure), patients have a worse long-term prognosis than patients with other kidney diseases, whether they are given dialysis or a kidney transplant.