Healthcare providers use kidney function tests to monitor the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) and creatine levels to determine whether you have kidney disease.
These tests can also tell doctors what stage of kidney disease individuals have. eGFR measures your kidneys’ capacity to filter waste and toxins from your blood. A low level may indicate kidney failure. Whereas high creatinine levels are usually a sign that your kidneys are not functioning properly, possibly due to a kidney infection.
Understanding the purpose of creatinine and the glomerular filtration rate in kidney function tests can give you a better idea about kidney function and how it’s measured.
ESTIMATED GLOMERULAR FILTRATION RATE (eGFR)
What Is the Estimated Glomerular Filtration Rate (eGFR)?
Glomeruli are tiny filters in your kidneys that eliminate toxins (waste) from your blood. The estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) measures how much blood the glomeruli clean. Kidney function tests use eGFR as a baseline to determine if someone has kidney disease.
What Does eGFR Tell Healthcare Providers?
eGFR helps medical professionals identify problems with your kidneys, such as kidney disease. Kidney disease happens when one or both kidneys have been damaged by illness, infections, or other factors. When someone has kidney disease, the glomeruli filter less blood causing dangerous toxins to build up in the blood.
Kidney disease symptoms, such as muscle spasms and frequent urination, may not occur until you lose up to 40% of kidney function. eGFR helps doctors detect kidney disease early so that you can begin treatment to reduce or prevent kidney damage.
Kidney Function Test in Carshalton at Anna Pharmacy
Blood tests that are used to precisely measure eGFR are extremely complex, so healthcare providers use a simplified formula to come up with an estimated GFR (eGFR). The formula uses results from a serum creatinine blood test in addition to your age and gender to determine an accurate eGFR measurement.
A serum creatinine blood test measures levels of creatinine which is a waste product (toxin) in your blood. When you have healthy kidneys, they filter this toxin out of the blood, and your body gets rid of it when you urinate. But, as a result of kidney disease, creatinine remains in the blood, gradually building up.
Come into any Anna Pharmacy in South London for a kidney function test in Sutton or at any of our other branches in Wallington, Hackbridge, Carshalton, and Croydon.
eGFR Results: What Do the Numbers Mean?
Levels for eGFR differ depending on an individual’s sex, age, and other factors. The eGFR declines naturally as you get older and lose muscle mass.
· The average eGFR for someone in their 20s: 116 mL/min/1.73m2.
· For people in their 60s, it usually drops to 85 mL/min/1.73m2.
An eGFR above 60 signifies that you have at least 60% kidney function. The higher the number is, the better your kidney function is.
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