Creatinine Test

If any important information about your kidneys needs to be revealed, a creatinine test is performed.

Creatine is a chemical waste product of muscle metabolism and can also be produced (to a smaller extent) by eating meat.

An individual with healthy kidneys has the ability to filter creatinine and other waste products from their blood. The filtered waste products are expelled by the body through urine.

In the case where your kidneys are not functioning efficiently, creatinine levels in the blood may begin to increase.

A serum creatinine test is designed to measure the amount of creatinine in your blood and provides an estimate of how efficient your kidneys are in filtering (glomerular filtration rate).

A creatinine urine test can measure creatinine in your urine.

There are many reasons to decide to undergo creatinine test, including:

The serum creatinine test is available to determine the efficiency of the kidney's filtering capabilities, by measuring the amount of creatinine in the blood.

How often you need a creatinine test depends on any underlying conditions and your risk of kidney damage.

For instance: If you have type 1 or type 2 diabetes, your doctor may recommend a creatinine test at least once a year.

If you have kidney disease, you doctor may recommend creatinine tests at regular intervals to monitor your condition.

If you have an illness that may affect your kidneys, such as high blood pressure or diabetes, or you are taking medication that may be affecting your kidneys.

Your doctor may recommend a creatinine test in the above cases as well.

The creatinine test is generally a safe outpatient procedure and carries no potential risks.

The serum creatinine test is a common blood test. There is no special preparation for the test. Your doctor may, however, give you some instructions.

Here you can find out what to expect from your creatinine test.

During the serum creatinine test, a member of your health care team will take a sample of your blood by inserting a needle into a vein located in your arm.

The sample will further be sent to the lab for further analysis. You can then return to you day to day activities as soon as it is over.

In some situations, your doctor may take a measurement of the level of creatinine in your urine as well.

For this test, part of the creatinine clearance test, your doctor may ask you to collect 24 hours’ worth of urine in a special container and submit it for analysis.

The urine creatinine test can help your doctor to more accurately assess the presence or degree of kidney failure.

The results of a creatinine blood test are measured in milligrams per deciliter or micromoles per liter.

The normal range for creatinine in the blood may be 0.84 to 1.21 milligrams per deciliter (74.3 to 107 micromoles per liter) although this can differ from one lab to the next, between men and women, and by age.

Since the amount of creatinine in the blood rises with muscle mass, men usually have higher levels of creatinine than women do. In general, a high serum creatinine level means that your kidneys are not efficiently doing their duty.

Your creatinine level may temporarily increase if you are dehydrated, have low blood volume, eat a large quantity of meat or take certain medications.

The dietary supplement creatine can have the identical effect. If your serum creatinine level is higher than normal, your doctor may want to confirm the results with another blood or urine test.

If kidney damage is a concern, it is very important to control any conditions that may be contributing to the damage.

It is especially crucial to managing your blood pressure, which often requires medication. You cannot cure permanent kidney damage, but with the necessary treatment, you may be able to prevent further damage.