Question: I just found out that my lab results are creatinine-1.27, egfr-44, bun-21 but this is the first time that my lab works are abnormal, my last lab work creatinine 0.66, egfr-90 and my bun21, am I have a kidney problem? I’m not swelling, no blood in the urine, no back pain. But I have hypertension and diabetes. Blood pressure controlled and I don’t have diabetes medicines, the Dr check it last June 2018 hba1c-6.7.

Answer: eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate), is a blood test for renal function. According to the eGFR, CKD is classified into five stages. Now your GFR is 44, which means you are in stage 3 CKD (GFR 30-60). because our kidneys have immense compensatory ability, even though they are damaged, creatinine and BUN can still be kept into normal range. But now yours are at the boundary of normal range. Despite you do not have swelling, blood urine and back pain, those common symptoms of CKD, it is likely for you to have kidney problem. Sometimes blood in urine is invisible, it is just occult blood. And there may be also protein in urine. To make a clear diagnosis, you had better do a urine test.

You said you have hypertension and diabetes. How many years of high blood pressure and diabetes? They both are the leading cause of kidney failure. But glad to hear that your blood pressure is under control, and hba1c is 6.7. The target A1c level for people with diabetes is usually less than 7%. The higher the hemoglobin A1c, the higher your risk of having complications related to diabetes.

In early stage of kidney disease, it is common for kidney patients to not suffer from symptoms. Therefore, no matter you have symptoms or not, you should take measures as early as possible to make an accurate diagnosis, and then take treatment timely. For your case, it is still reversible. For more information on CKD treatment, please leave a message below or contact online doctor.