Does high creatinine necessarily mean uremia?

Does high creatinine necessarily mean uremia? This issue has always been the most concerned topic among people, because uremia can cause great harm to human health. In fact, high creatinine does not necessarily mean uremia. Instead, the condition reaches the uremia stage only when creatinine reaches >707μmol/L.

1. Does high creatinine necessarily mean uremia?

A creatinine value that is higher than the normal value is called high creatinine. Creatinine includes blood creatinine and urine creatinine, but blood creatinine is a more meaningful measure of kidney function. Therefore, high creatinine generally refers to high blood creatinine. The normal value of blood creatinine is measured by different standards in different hospitals. Generally speaking, the normal value of blood creatinine is 44-133μmol/L. When blood creatinine exceeds 133μmol/L, it means that the kidneys are damaged and renal insufficiency or renal failure has occurred. (133μmol/L and above is the inflammatory damage stage, 186μmol/L is the renal function damage stage, and 451μmol/L is the renal failure stage).

The uremia that people often refer to is the terminal stage of chronic renal failure. This does not refer to an independent disease, but a clinical syndrome common to a series of late-stage kidney diseases. When blood creatinine is >707μmol/L, the condition has entered the uremia stage.

2. Early symptoms of uremia

1. Fatigue, headache and weakness:

The main causes of this symptom are: damaged cell function, metabolic imbalance, long-term retention of harmful substances in the body causing neurological disease, acid-base metabolism imbalance, electrolyte disorder and renal hypertension.

2. Edema:

Edema is an early symptom that is easier to detect in patients with early uremia. In the early stage, edema mainly manifests as swelling of the eyelids and ankles. As the disease worsens, persistent or systemic edema will occur.

3. Nausea and vomiting:

The main cause of this symptom is high blood creatinine in the early stage, which causes toxins to accumulate in the body and cannot be excreted, leading to digestive tract dysfunction and poor appetite. If the disease worsens, abdominal distension, nausea, and vomiting will occur.

4. Decreased urine volume:

The main reason for this symptom is the decline in kidney filtration function. In many patients, urine volume will gradually decrease as the disease progresses.

3. How to prevent uremia

1. Drink less carbonated drinks

The main ingredients of carbonated drinks are sugar, pigments, flavors and carbonated water. Apart from calories, they contain almost no nutritional value. Foreign studies have shown that excessive consumption of carbonated beverages increases the risk of kidney stones, kidney failure and other kidney diseases.

Regardless of whether the carbonated drinks are sweetened or unsweetened, people who drink 2 or more bottles of carbonated drinks a day have a two-fold increased risk of chronic kidney disease.

2. Pay attention to kidney disease turning into uremia

Kidney disease can easily lead to uremia, so patients with kidney disease should be treated in a timely manner and antibiotics should be actively used. The incidence of uremia caused by chronic kidney disease has decreased.

However, the rate of uremia caused by primary and genetic kidney diseases such as chronic nephritis, polycystic kidney disease, and Alport syndrome is increasing. Therefore, timely treatment for kidney disease patients can reduce the occurrence of uremia.

3. Urinary tract infection should be treated promptly

Many people tend to think that urinary tract infection is a minor illness and there is no need to make a fuss about it. In fact, if urinary tract infection is not treated properly, it can cause retrograde infection of bacteria, which in turn damages the kidney units, affects the progressive decline of renal function, and leads to uremia.

According to statistics, many people are puzzled as to how urinary tract infection can lead to uremia. In my country, chronic pyelonephritis leads to 21.2% of uremia and is an important factor leading to uremia.