Kidney Function Tests: Types And The Entire Process

What is the kidney function test?

The function of your kidneys is to filter the waste materials from your blood and remove them directly as urine. We have two kidneys on both the side of our abdomen. Both the kidneys help in maintaining health by eliminating anything that our body doesn’t need. Another function of the kidneys is to maintain the level of water and other minerals in our body. They help in the formation of red blood cells, hormones that help in regulating blood pressure and vitamin D. 

Kidney Function Tests

When you undergo health screening, your doctor will find during the test if your kidneys aren’t functioning properly. For this, you need kidney function blood tests. In this test, you are supposed to give your blood and urine test which can identify if you have any problems in your kidneys. Kidney function is also done if you have a condition that might spoil the proper functioning of your kidneys. For example, if you have diabetes or high blood pressure. This test will help the doctor to monitor the condition of your kidneys. 

What are some of the symptoms of kidney problems

These symptoms will help you in realizing that you are having some problems with your kidneys. 

1.When you have high blood pressure
2. When you encounter blood in your urine
3. If you are frequently urinating
4. When you have difficulty in urinating
5. When you have pain while urinating
6. When you experience swelling in your hands and feet. This happens because the fluids begin to build up in your body. 

If you are having any one of the symptoms, it won’t mean you are suffering from kidney failure. If you are recently having them simultaneously, then it would definitely mean that your kidneys aren’t functioning properly. When you go for a kidney function test, your unknown symptoms and reason could then be described in a more detailed way. 

What are the types of kidney function tests?

The kidney function blood tests take place in a set of tests that can help in identifying your glomerular filtration rate (GFR). this GFR explains how fast your kidneys are working in eliminating the waste from your body. 

The following are the set of tests which takes place under kidney function tests:

1. Urinalysis

This test helps in looking at the presence of protein and blood in your urine. The presence of protein doesn’t necessarily mean that you have some issues with your kidneys. The presence of protein can be for many reasons. If you have any infection in your body, it will increase the level of protein in your urine but while you do a heavy workout, the protein in your urine also tends to increase. Hence, your doctor may recommend you to go for the test again at private blood testing in London as reputed clinics will take care of the accuracy of the samples. They check for any similarities between the test you had last time. 

You may be asked to provide a 24-hour urine collection sample. This helps the doctor to know about the creatinine level in your body. Creatinine is the waste that your kidneys clear it out from your body. 

2. Serum creatinine test

This test helps in knowing if the creatinine is forming in your blood. What our kidneys do is, it filters out the creatinine from the blood. If you have a high level of creatinine, it means you are suffering from kidney problems. If the level of creatinine is higher than 1.2 milligrams/deciliter (mg/dL)  in women and 1.4 mg/dL in men, it is a straight cut sign of kidney problem.

3. Blood urea nitrogen (BUN)

This test is done to check for waste products in your blood. Urea nitrogen is the broken product of protein. This test identifies the amount of nitrogen in the blood. If the screening has identified a high level of BUN in your blood, this also doesn’t necessarily signify you have kidney problems. If you take medications on aspirin or have some types of antibiotics, this can increase the level of BUN in your blood. 

So prior to the kidney function blood tests, you must tell your doctor if you are already on some kind of medication or supplement. This test must be done without any other drugs at least a few days before the test. 

The BUN level should be between 7 and 20 mg/dL. If you have a higher value than this, it could mean you have kidney problems. 

4. Estimated GFR

This test also measures how well your kidneys are functioning in filtering the waste from your blood. If your report comes stating the rate lower than 60 milliliters/minute/1.73m2, this is actually a warning sign for some major issue in your kidney functioning. 

What is needed for the test?

The kidney function test requires a 24-hour urine sample and a blood test. 

In a 24-hour urine sample, the doctor gets hold of the creatinine clearance test. It gives an idea about how much creatinine is expelling from your body in a day. When you are supposed to start the test, you have to urinate normally into the toilet as you would do after you wake up. Now the rest of the day and night, you have to urinate in a container as provided by your doctor at a private blood testing in London. Keep the container in a refrigerator. Make sure it is capped tightly. On the second day, you have to again urinate into the container after you wake up. That’s a complete process of 24-hour urine collection. 

Kidney Function Tests

When you have to give your blood samples for BUN and serum creatinine, you have to go to a lab or any doctor’s chamber. 

Why kidney function test is important

These screenings and tests help your doctor in understanding the current situation of your body. The test can identify the early signs of any underlying disease which is yet to happen. When the doctor gets hold of it, there would be enough time for you to cure the disease completely from inside. That’s why these health screening tests are so important. It helps the doctor to start working on the symptoms so that they can cure the disease at an early stage, it also helps you in saving your life from running with the disease itself.