We are often asked that what does it mean to have a serum creatinine level of
1.3, or a higher level, people are aware of something wrong happened on them,
but some feel good and do not have any obvious symptoms, they are sacred of high
serum creatinine level, and all of them want to know what does high creatinine
level means and what can they do to lower the serum creatinine.
The kidneys are organs with strong reserve capacity, actually, we just use
less than 50% of renal function on daily life, so if creatinine rises, it means
that kidneys are damaged more than 50%, so the high creatinine level maybe not a
coincidence.
So what happened exactly, the early kidney damage is different to discover,
the healthy functional cells will occur phenotypic transformation. At this time,
a series of cells which can cause renal toxicity and growth chemokines, and then
combine and secrete various extracellular matrixes which are hard to be
degraded. A large mass of extracellular matrixes will take place of healthy
functional units, and then Glomerulosclerosis, interstitial fibrosis will occur,
then serum creatinine can not be discharged timely and effectively, that is the
reason why high serum creatinine level occurs.
Well, the renal function can be divided into four stages according to the
level of serum creatinine:
I Serum creatinine level: 141.4-177 μmoI/L (1.6-2.0 mg/dl), at this stage,
the patients will loss 20-25% nephron, but they may not feel obvious
symptoms.
II Serum creatinine level: 185.9-442.6mmol/L (2.1-5.0 mg/dl), at this stage,
the patients will loss 50-70% nephron, and some symptoms such as Nocturia,
weakness, edema anorexia, nausea and mild anemia may occur.
III Serum creatinine level: 442.-708.2 mmol/L (5.0-8.0 mg/dl), at this stage,
the patients will loss 70-90% nephron, and patients also will suffer with severe
anemia, edema, nausea, vomiting, metabolic acidosis, hypocalcemia and
hyperphosphataemia.
IV Serum creatinine level: >708.2 mmol/L (>8.0 mg/dl), at this stage,
except some serious symptoms, the patients will need dialysis to sustain their
life.
Now we know what does it mean to have a high serum creatinine level, the
timely treatment for kidney patients are necessary. Please refer to 'How to Reduce the High Creatinine Effectively' for more information.