Diabetes is the most frequent cause of kidney failure accounting for nearly 45 percent of new cases in America. Centers for Disease Control have revealed that over 17 million Americans have diabetes. Diabetes is also considered as the number one cause of chronic kidney disease (CKD). Patients with type 2 diabetes once known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus or adult-onset diabetes are at an immense risk of acquiring kidney disease. The onset of kidney disease can be evaluated by a high excretion rate of the protein albumin from the body in the urine through the process known as microalbuminuria. A recent research by the researchers at the University of Warwick has revealed that high doses of Vitamin B1 or thiamine can reverse early diabetic kidney disease. The team led by Dr Naila Rabbani and Professor Paul J Thornalley at Warwick Medical School University of Warwick in collaboration with researchers at the University of Punjab and Sheik Zaid Hospital Lahore Pakistan discovered that taking high oral doses of thiamine can radically diminish the excretion of albumin and reverse early stage kidney disease in type 2 diabetes patients. The journal Diabetologia in which the study has been published reported that the 300 mg of vitamin B1 taken orally each day consecutively for three months reduced the rate of albumin excretion in type 2 diabetes patients. Albumin excretion rate was dropped by almost 41% from the value noted in the beginning of the study. 35% patients with microalbuminuria restored to normal urinary albumin excretion when treated with thiamine. The study involved forty patients with type 2 diabetes aged between 35 and 65 years old. They were randomly given a placebo or 3 x 100mg tablets of thiamine a day for three months. Researchers have established that about a third of the patients who were given the vitamin rather than placebo returned to normal levels of albumin. In a previous study led by Professor Paul Thornalley at Warwick Medical School the research team established that thiamine insufficiency could contribute to a variety of vascular problems for diabetes patients. The Warwick research group had already established that many type 2 diabetes patients have a thiamine deficiency. The Warwick team plans to commence a foundation to improve education and research in thiamine deficiency in diabetes. Dr Naila Rabbani the lead investigator concluded: "This study once again highlights the significance of Vitamin B1 and we need to augment awareness."