High Creatinine Levels But No Symptoms

High creatinine levels point to kidney malfunction. Some persons find out that they have Renal Failure when extreme creatinine amounts show up in routine blood test, but have no symptoms. Why?

The kidneys filter large volumes of blood to remove excess water and wastes. Creatinine, a nitrogenous waste product produced by muscular activity, is commonly eliminated by the kidneys. Generally, healthy persons will have a constant level of creatinine over time.

When the kidneys' filtering units are damaged, people begin to develop kidney disease. Wastes products that should be excreted in the urine will build up in the blood, leading to some toxic effects. However, our kidneys have strong ability of functional compensation. Even without feeling any symptoms at all, your kidney function may have been severely impaired.

Unfortunately, by the time when high levels of creatinine have been detected, you may have lost a substantial proportion of kidney function. When obvious symptoms present, it is already the stage of Renal Failure. Is there any other better way to detect the decline of kidney function in the early stage?

The answer is "Yes". These include Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) and Cystatin C test.
1. Cystatin C may be used to screen for and monitor kidney dysfunction. Measuring Cystatin C is also useful in the early detection of kidney disease when other test results may still be normal and an affected individual may have few, if any, symptoms.

2. GFR can reflect the function of glomeruli, and the normal range for healthy ones is male-(125±15) ml/min, female-10% lower than that of male. Kidney disease can be divided into five stages ranging from a GFR greater than 90 (Stage 1), GFR 60-89 (Stage 2), GFR 30-59 (Stage 3), GFR 15-29 (Stage 4) and less than 15 cc/min (Stage 5).

With an early detection and effective treatment, your kidney disease can always be treated successfully in clinic.

more for you: Is Creatinine 5 Serious And How to Lower It