Keep an Eye on Your Kidneys’ Performance through This Test

The kidneys are a pair of bean-shaped organs located around the waist. Despite their small size, the kidneys have so many functions. They are responsible for discharging the toxic left by the metabolism in the body. When the kidneys are damaged, the metabolism residue will accumulate inside and pollute our body. The kidneys also function to maintain normal blood pressure, produce red blood cells, and keep the bones healthy.

Kidney damage or disease may occur from many causes, yet diabetes mellitus (DM) and hypertension are the primary among all. High level of blood sugar in a long-term period, as happens with the uncontrolled DM, will damage the kidneys and impair their ability to filter blood and dispose the metabolism residue to the urine. In case of hypertension, the high blood pressure damages the organs passed through by the blood vessels, including the kidneys. In addition to the two primary causes, kidney disease may also arise from obesity, nephritis (inflammation of the nephrons), and cysts or kidney stones.

Monitor How Your Kidneys Work

Kidney damage progresses slowly and without symptoms, hence it is often tardily detected or detected just after reaching the advanced stage, in which serious treatments, such as dialysis or kidney transplantation, are highly demanded.

Thus, you can take the two tests for monitoring your kidney function, namely Cystatin C and Quantitative Urine Albumin laboratory tests.

The Cystatin C test uses blood sample to figure out the estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), which is the amount of blood filtered by the glomerulus (the filtering unit within the kidney) in a minute. The eGFR value describes the kidney function. When the Cystatin C level increases, the eGFR decreases and the filter function in the glomerulus goes down, so does the kidney function. Someone is considered as having kidney disease when the eGFR is below 60 milliliter per minute. If this condition lasts longer than six months, he/she will be diagnosed as having chronic kidney disease.

The second test, the Quantitative Urine Albumin test, is to measure the albumin level in the temporal urine sample or the urine collected for a certain period, as the kidney damage marker. Normally, the protein (albumin) is not discharged along with the urine. Someone is considered as having kidney disease when the albumin is > 30 mg per 1 g of creatinine persistent for > 3 months with or without a GFR decrease.

Regular laboratory tests and healthy lifestyle will provide double protection for your kidneys.

Celebrating World Kidney Day, enjoy a 20%* cut for the Cystatin C and Quantitative Urine Albumin tests (if taken at the same time) in Prodia Clinical Laboratory during March 2017. For further information, click here.