kidney function test

Repeated Kidney Infection Explained

Q:2 kidney infections in a little over a month.?

I had no warning signs with either one. I woke up to weird smelling urine and a lot of blood in my urine. So I was expecting to have a UTI, but they said I had a really bad kidney infection. Took my antibiotics and thought it went away, and just got another one. Same thing no warning signs and ended up with a really bad kidney infection. I have never had a problem with UTIs ever in my life. And I’m concerned because I now have had 2 really close together. Any ideas what could be going on. Not doing anything or taking anything different

Blood test for kidney function, stones, renal failure, and dehydration

A:A possible complication of acute pyelonephritis is chronic kidney disease. If the infection continues, the kidneys may be permanently damaged. Although rare, it’s also possible for the infection to enter the bloodstream. This can result in a potentially deadly infection called sepsis.

What causes frequent kidney infections? Bacteria that enter your urinary tract through the tube that carries urine from your body (urethra) can multiply and travel to your kidneys. This is the most commoncause of kidney infections. Bacteria from an infection elsewhere in your body also can spread through your bloodstream to your kidneys.

Home remedies to avoid UTIs and improve kidney function.

  1. Drink lots of water. …
  2. Drink cranberry juice. …
  3. Avoid alcohol and coffee. …
  4. Take probiotics. …
  5. Get some vitamin C. …
  6. Try parsley juice. …
  7. Consume apples and apple juice. …
  8. Take an Epsom salt bath.

They can also happen if people try to cure their bladder infections with home remedies, like drinking cranberry juice (no, this won’t work). “Cranberry juice is not a treatment for a urinary tract infection

What Does Creatinine 5 and Hemoglobin 7 means?

From received questions: I am a 50 years’ woman complaining from backpain and weakness all the time, and have got these lab work results:

  • Creatinine 5 mg/dl
  • BUN 140
  • eGFR 9.0 mL/min/1.73m2
  • Haemoglobin 7.5
  • Total white cells count 15,000 /ml
  • Neutrophils cells count 12,500  /ml
  • Serum Iron 35

Please explain my results.

Interpretation

Creatinine is the main waste product used to measure the efficiency of the kidneys, elevated when kidney have a damage or blockage. Haemoglobin is a molecule inside red blood cells which attach oxygen and transport it to tissues.
Backpain is not usually a sign of renal impairment unless creatinine is elevated, however kidney diseases are common at such age, here’s simple interpretation of your blood test results.
Creatinine normal range is 0.4 – 1.4 mg/dl and therefore Serum creatinine of 5.0 is a high level which mark a severe kidney disease, may be acute or chronic.
Blood urea nitrogen normal level is 23 while the results show BUN 140 which is elevated and confirm the kidney disease along with the creatinine results.
Haemoglobin 7.5 out of 13 – 17 g/dl means anemia, the anemic person experience shortness of breath and pallor appearance as well as the weakness due to poor oxygenation of the body tissues.
Complete blood count show increased white blood cells count of the type neutrophils, neutrophils are those white cells responsible for removing the bacteria and dead tissue from the blood circulation.
Conclusion:
question cr 5 egfr 9
The medical report suggests progressive chronic disease as the eGFR is below 15, to confirm this diagnosis you must wait 3 months on such high levels along with ACR more than 30. Read more about GFR test.
What causes chronic kidney impairment is any disease that cause damage to blood vessels and tissues such as:

  • High blood sugar levels caused by diabetes which is the most common.
  • Uncontrolled high blood pressure (hypertension).
  • polycystic kidney disease.
  • Pyelonephritis.
  • Glomerulonephritis.
  • Long term use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), such as celecoxib and ibuprofen, and certain antibiotics.

What to do with creatinine 5?

To slow the progression of chronic kidney disease, keep your blood levels at optimum:

  • Target blood pressure: below 130/80
  • Target blood sugar: 110 mg/dl or lower.
  • Target blood fats: triglycerides less than 150 mg/dl and LDL less than 60
  • Quit Smoking and alcohol as smoking can lead to atherosclerosis, which reduces blood flow to the kidneys and increases blood pressure.
  • Avoid dehydration which can be results from diarrhea and vomiting.

Treating CKD require integrated course to treat underlying causes as well, see more about creatinine blood test.

What Does Backpain with Normal Creatinine Mean?

Back pain or flank pain usually a result of musculoskeletal problems but often can be a sign of kidney pain.
It is difficult to diagnose the lower back pain as a pain in the kidneys.
But it can be predicted as follows:
The kidney pain felt under the ribs and is deeper than muscle pain.
Back pain caused by muscle strain is down from where the pain caused by the kidneys.
backpain and kidney pain creatinine
How do I differentiate between low back pain resulting from total pain and pain caused by muscle problems?
If the pain moves towards your side and groin area.
Urine analysis show pus cells and protein which is a sign of infection especially with painful urination and fever.
Ultrasound show kidney stones even if there is no crystals in the urine or blood cells.
Elevated creatinine is a strong sign of kidney disease  which can be a cause of flank pain.
However backpain will not rise creatinine levels unless the pain is caused by a disease in kidneys.
So that, flank pain with normal creatinine should exclude that the pain is due to renal disease but it can be a result of muscle stain or other muscle problems.
Other signs of kidney disease:
a low urine output.
Retention of fluids as a result of failure of kidneys to eliminate water waste will cause swelling of your legs, ankles, and feet.
excessive drowsiness or fatigue.
persistent nausea.
pain in your chest with unexplained shortness of breath.
seizures.
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Understand GFR Blood Test and Normal GFR Levels Range

GFR word stands for Glomerular Filtration Rate and tells how well your kidneys are working?
Most people who developed CKD they weren’t know at earlier time because the disease itself progress silently for long period of time.
Usually a man comes to the ER room complains from signs such as swelling, high blood pressure, nausea, poor appetite, and vomiting.
After doing General Medical Checkup at the laboratory, results come with high creatinine level which indicate chronic disease of the kidney.

Normal GFR Levels

The GFR results seen in healthy individuals with normal kidney function.

Normal GFR Levels Chart by Age

Age (years) Average estimated GFR %
 20 – 29 116
 30 – 39 107
 40 – 49 99
 50 – 59 93
 60 – 69 85
 70+ 75

Remember:  GFR declines with age, even in people without kidney disease.

Chart of Chronic Kidney Disease Stages by GFR Ranges

How to tell which Chronic Kidney Disease stage you are in by GFR levels?

CKD Stage Normal GFR Range
Stage 1 with normal or high GFR Greater than 90 mL/min
Stage 2 Mild CKD 60-89 mL/min
Stage 3A Moderate CKD 45-59 mL/min
Stage 3B Moderate CKD 30-44 mL/min
Stage 4 Severe CKD 15-29 mL/min
Stage 5 End Stage CKD Less than 15 mL/min

What Do GFR Blood Test Results mean?

Every GFR number can lead to a diagnosis of renal dysfunction, here’s GFR levels explained

Meaning of Normal GFR

It means the percentage of normal kidney function which is an estimate of remaining kidney function.
When GFR is 100 milliliters per minute (mL/min) it means you have 100% kidney function, while GFR of 30 mL/min means your kidney function is reduced to 30% of its ability of creatinine clearance.
As the chronic kidney disease progresses the GFR decreases.
When GFR is less than 15 mL/min it means you lost about 90 to 85 percent of kidney function and developed end stage kidney disease that need dialysis to take wastes of the body out.
Normal GFR range means normal kidney function while low GFR level means that your kidney function is low.

Meaning of GFR Levels from 60 to 89

If you have mildly low GFR from 60 and less than 90 you’re not a kidney disease patient unless you see protein in urine test, then your kidney at the stage 1 CKD.
However,  low GFR must remain for three consecutive months for CKd to be diagnosed.
There are usually no symptoms at stage 1 to indicate the kidney damage.
Best approaches to prevent kidney disease progresses more is to stop or minimize the dosage of ibuprofen and other medications that cause kidney damage.

Meaning of GFR Levels from 60 to 30

If you have GFR results between 30 and 59, this means moderate stages of chronic kidney disease.
What happens at Stage 3 CKD? complications of kidney disease such as high blood pressure, anemia, early bone disease as well as kidney pain felt in back, muscle cramps, and swelling (edema) of extremities due to fluid retention.
What blood test results show when I have Stage 3 CKD?
protein in urine, low hemoglobin, low calcium level, and low serum albumin in addition to S.creatinine over 3 mg/dl and BUN over 100 mg/dl.
Recommendations: treatment plan by a nephrologist and keep the blood levels at satisfactory values.

Meaning of Low GFR Levels below 15

GFR below 30 means sever kidney disease while GFR of 15 or below means Kidney Failure.
Lab results: SCR over 10 mg/dl, BUN over 150 mg/dl, Low Vitamin D, High PTH, Low Calcium, and abnormal cell casts in urine (with foamy stinky dark urine).
What to do if GFR range is 15?
Kidney failure reverse process include dialysis or kidney transplant when needed to survive.

How is GFR checked?

There are two methods to come with GFR level: blood and urine

Estimation of eGFR from creatinine in blood

eGFR stands for Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate.
By using the level of creatinine, your age, race and gender and substitute in a special equation.
There are two questions to calculate eGFR from a blood creatinine sample, the old C-G equation and the newer MDRD equation.
First equation: The MDRD eGFR equation.
MDRD equation for eGFR
MDRD equation is only for chronic kidney disease (CKD), acute renal failure will not come with accurate eGFR results.
eGFR stands for Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate.

The difference between GFR and Creatinine clearance

Estimations of creatinine  clearance and GFR are not the same, that’s why?
The kidney filtration system consists of glomerules part which filters creatinine and the tubules parts which filters
reabsorb important chemicals from the initial filtrate.
GFR MDRD equation measures only the glomerular ability to filter creatinine as a waste.
While Creatinine clearance C_G equation counts the whole path of creatinine removal which consists of the glomerular filtration and the active creatinine secretion in the proximal tubule which should not be counted toward GFR
Median difference between GFR and CrCl is 3, so that you may round your renal estimation to the nearest 5 mL/min/1.73 m2
The medications that inhibit the active secretion of creatinine in the proximal tubule will falsly elevate serm creatinine but not the GFR.
The medications that can cause false  increase in serum creatinine isfor instance; trimethoprim, cefoxitin (an antibiotic sometimes used for perioperative prophylaxis.
There’s no clinical significance of this difference except the mentioned below:

  1. Creatinine clearance is a good marker for drug dosing instead of GFR.
  2. MDRD GFR equation is valid only for chronic kidney disease and not accurate for acute renal failure as the Cockcroft and Gault equation.
  3. Because MDRD set after studies on patients with  renal dysfunction, it loses precision in patients with normal renal function whose GFR above 60 mL/min/1.73 m2.

Second Equation: Creatinine clearance equation (Cockcroft and Gault)
cockroft gault equation fo creatinine clearence
The Cockcroft and Gault equation estimates creatinine clearance and is not adjusted for body surface area.
GFR estimates from the MDRD Study equation doesn’t rely on a patient’s size to estimate kidney function.
 
Modify the estimate and range of the Cockcroft-Gault by calculate BMI to  avoid the error results from the differences of patient’s body weight and BMI.

Creatinine clearance method

Measuring GFR from creatinine clearance test for 24 hour urine Collection.
Useful in patients who have large muscle mass or a marked decrease in muscle mass.
cr cl equation

How do doctors identify kidney problems?

Lab test results to check for kidney disease:
Measuring the level of serum creatinine in your blood: to estimate glomerular filtration rate (GFR), as GFR helps to identify which stage of the disease your kidneys are reached.
Urine test for protein in urine: Proteinuria is a sign of mild kidney damage even if the GFR is about 90.
Normal blood pressure level represents normal selective ion exchange by kidney system.
Recommendations:
Here some tips of what to do if you have abnormal GFR test results?
Repeat Creatinine, GFR and Urine tests periodically even if the numbers are normal, especially if you from those at risk to develop kidney disease.
Early detection and identification of kidney problems lead to early treatments and close prevention of worsening the disease.
You can search by zip code for the local Kidney early evaluation Program (KeeP®) screenings at:
www.kidney.org/KEEP
A free program offers free screening tests for: anyone 18 years and older at increased risk for kidney disease:

  • Have a family history of kidney disease.
  • You’re over 60 years of age.
  • You’re african american, Hispanic, asian or american indian.
  • Have diabetes.
  • Have high blood pressure.

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