High Creatinine, Low Kidney Function and Low GFR

2014-03-14 03:53

High creatinine, low kidney function and low glomerular filtration rate (GFR) are three common seen words for kidney disease patients, then do you know the relationships among them? And how do you deal with them when you suffer from high creatinine, low kidney function and low GFR?

As we know, high creatinine is often regarded as a sign of severely reduced kidney function, however, not all the high creatinine level in blood means low kidney function. Therefore, if people get a high creatinine level through their blood test, they need to find the cause of their high creatinine level. There are some main causes that can lead to high creatinine level such as dehydration, urinary tract infections, high protein and meat intake, creatine supplement or strenuous activities. If the high creatinine level is not caused by these causes, and it lasts for a long time, then people need to consider whether they have low kidney function and low GFR.

Creatinine is the waste product of muscle metabolism in blood, and it is mainly excreted by kidneys. When the kidneys can work normally, or the kidney function is more than 50%, the creatinine can be excreted normally, and the creatinine level will not be elevated. However, when the kidney function is less than 50% or the glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is less than 59 ml/min/1.73m2, the creatinine level will be elevated. In this aspect, we can know that, high creatinine level can be related to low kidney function and low GFR.

Therefore, when people have kidney disease suffer from high creatinine level, it means they also have low kidney function and low GFR. The higher the creatinine level is, the lower kidney function and GFR are for kidney disease patients. And the elevated high creatinine level will cause further damage to kidneys and cause lower kidney function and lower GFR. Therefore, patients need to have effective treatment to lower their high creatinine level and improve their kidney function and GFR. All these can help slow down the progression of kidney failure.

From above we can know that, high creatinine can be a sign for kidney disease patients to help patients pay attention to their low kidney function and low GFR. And patients need to have regular blood test to help patients know their creatinine level, then patients can have prompt and effective treatment to remedy their kidney disease and improve their illness condition.

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