Creatinine Blood Test
Medical Author: Frederick Hecht, MD, FAAP, FACMG
Medical Editor: William C. Shiel, Jr., MD, FACP, FACR
What is creatinine?
Creatinine is a chemical waste molecule that is generated
from muscle metabolism. Creatinine is produced from creatine, a molecule
of major
importance for energy production in muscles. Approximately 2% of the
body's creatine is converted to creatinine every day. Creatinine is
transported through the bloodstream to the kidneys. The kidneys
filter out most of the creatinine and dispose of it in the urine.
Why is it important to check blood creatinine levels?
The kidneys maintain the blood creatinine in a normal range. Creatinine has been found to be a fairly reliable indicator
of kidney function. As the kidneys become impaired the creatinine level in the blood
will rise. Abnormally high levels of creatinine thus warn of possible
malfunction or failure of the kidneys, sometimes even before a
patient reports any symptoms. It is for this reason that standard
blood and urine tests routinely check the amount of creatinine in the
blood.
What are "normal" blood creatinine levels?
Normal levels of creatinine in the blood are approximately 0.6 to
1.2 milligrams (mg) per deciliter (dl) in adult males and 0.5 to 1.1
milligrams per deciliter in adult females. (In the metric system, a
milligram is a unit of weight equal to one-thousandth of a gram, and
a deciliter is a unit of volume equal to one-tenth of a liter.)
Muscular young or
middle-aged adults may have more creatinine in their blood than the norm for the
general population. Elderly persons, on the other hand, may have less creatinine
in their blood than the norm. Infants have normal levels of about 0.2 or more,
depending on their muscle development. A person with only one kidney
may have a normal level of about 1.8 or 1.9. Creatinine levels that
reach 2.0 or more in babies and 10.0 or more in adults may indicate
the need for a dialysis machine to remove wastes from the blood.
Certain drugs can sometimes cause abnormally elevated creatinine
levels.
Last Editorial Review: 9/5/2005
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From the Doctors at MedicineNet.com  |
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- Kidney Failure - Learn about kidney failure, in which the body has fluid retention, risen blood pressure, toxin build up and lack of red blood cells. Symptoms include fatigue, nausea, and apetite loss. Source:MedicineNet
- Dialysis - Dialysis is a procedure that performs many of the normal duties of the kidneys, like filtering waste products from the blood, when the kidneys no longer work adequately. There are two types of dialysis: hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. Source:MedicineNet
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