Your Good Health: High GFR, creatinine level signify kidney damage

Dear Dr. Roach: Last summer, a city policeman came to my door. My doctor had been unable to contact me with results of a recent blood test and called police. The officer handed me a card with the results. My creatinine level was 4.1, and my glomerular filtration rate was 14. He said the numbers indicated that my kidneys were failing and that I should go to the emergency room immediately. Except for swelling in one ankle, I had no symptoms.

What is a TURP, and how routine is it? Are there long-term negative effects? How close did I come to kidney failure?Your problem was obstruction of the urine flow due to an enlarged prostate. The urethra, the tube that carries urine out of the body, goes right through the middle of the prostate, and an enlarged prostate can block flow partially or completely. This is a common problem. Sometimes urine flow stops entirely, but this doesn’t have to happen in order for kidney damage to occur.

A GFR of less than 15 is considered stage 5 kidney failure, which usually means dialysis will be necessary to preserve life. Note that creatinine itself isn’t the problem; it’s a marker for the fact that the kidney can’t remove all the other waste products, which will then build up and make a person very ill.

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