Does Elevated Creatinine Equal Impaired Kidney Function?

When the words "uremia" and "dialysis" are mentioned, many kidney patients can't help but stand firm against the wall.

On the one hand, Wecistanche.com has been striving to improve the standardized management of kidney patients and reduce the incidence of uremia;

On the other hand, in the face of kidney patients with poor disease control,  Wecistanche.com also wants to convey a message to everyone: Don't be discouraged, uremia is not the end of life, but the beginning of another new life, the beginning of Nirvana rebirth.

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Some CKD patients say to us, "I don't want to know about these things. I've reached that point, and I'm done." In fact, many people can't imagine how strong the human survival instinct is in a desperate situation. Many patients who were "reluctant to obey" at the beginning will also find that if they had known more knowledge, they would not have to take those detours, and finally reached the step of dialysis or even uremia.

Closer to home. Today, Love Kidney Network will take you to understand the relevant knowledge of "creatinine".

Creatinine

Creatinine is actually a waste product produced by metabolism in the human body.

As you can see from the graph above, there are three reasons why creatinine may increase:

1. More muscles (such as bodybuilders)

2. More protein intake

3. Decreased renal function

People with low muscle mass and reduced kidney function may have creatinine in the normal range.

Correct answer: The indicator to evaluate renal function is the glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), not creatinine.

Treatment of kidney disease, especially dietary regimens, depends on how well your kidneys are functioning. But often there are chronic kidney disease stage 2 or even stage 3 kidney patients who tell the nutritionist that their kidney function is normal...

The basis of these people's judgments is often that the creatinine value is within the normal range.

Take a simple example:

A factory with 100 employees can produce 1,000 items per day at full capacity.

Usually the task is lighter, and only 900 items need to be completed every day.

Due to various reasons such as poor working conditions, workers gradually leave their jobs.

When there are 90 employees left, 900 items can still be completed on time every day;

When there are 80 employees left, working overtime every day still barely completes 900 items;

When there are 70 employees left, even working overtime every day can only complete 800 items...  

At this time, there was a backlog of orders.

Early kidney disease

Factories are like our kidneys, workers are nephrons, and commodities are creatinine; even if the kidney function is slightly damaged, daily work can still be done.

exacerbation of kidney disease

When the damage is aggravated, the creatinine cannot be completely metabolized, and accumulation occurs, that is, the creatinine increases.

severe kidney disease

The creatinine rises over the years until one day it exceeds the normal range of the test sheet.

A true indicator of kidney function

What are the indicators of kidney function in the doctor's mouth?

That is, the glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) mentioned above.

Finally, you must pay attention to one thing:

Elevated creatinine = impaired kidney function, normal creatinine = normal kidney function, this kind of thinking must not be allowed!

Serum creatinine is a normal metabolite of the body, which is mainly derived from the decomposition of phosphocreatinine in the muscle and can be excreted through the glomerulus. Men produce more creatinine per day than women, and people who exercise regularly to build muscle and eat more meat also produce more creatinine.

Therefore, serum creatinine is the combined result of creatinine production + renal excretion!

(1) Creatinine is not only affected by age, gender, and race, but also is related to exercise, dietary meat intake, and muscle-wasting diseases.

(2) On the other hand, the kidney has a strong compensatory function, even if it is partially damaged, it can still compensate and maintain the balance of serum creatinine. Therefore, in some patients with mildly impaired kidney disease, creatinine does not rise.

After reading this article, I hope you will never misunderstand the meaning of creatinine again, and remember to forward it to friends in need.