What do high creatinine levels mean?
Creatinine, urea and urate all increase as the ability of the kidneys to filter fluid within the body declines. This is irrespective of the cause of reduced efficiency of the kidneys. I suppose that the most common reasons for developing raised creatinine levels will be when the filtration mechanism becomes gradually damaged by long-term raised blood pressure or diabetes. In any severe feverish illness where the person gets dehydrated, there may be a rise in blood creatinine levels as the kidney tries to deal with the breakdown products of proteins in our bodies. Acute renal failure may result from trauma, blood loss, serious infections, poisons, some cancers and biochemical imbalances, to name but a few causes. As the kidneys become increasingly unable to cope, so the creatinine level rises. A reliable measure of renal function is often expressed to doctors by a creatinine clearance test. This involves a formula that expresses the blood creatinine in relation to the amount of creatini
