Question about labs

[Mandelin]

Hi everyone. Hope you all are doing well. I have posted before regarding my kidney disease but I am wondering about my husband’s results. His GFR says >60. Why would it say that and not a number up to 100? I know I didn’t know I had it til I was in stage 3 even though I had labs for many years before but they never said kidney disease. How do others know they have 70 or higher numbers? Thanks.

[Hidden]

The lab should be repeated a few times in the couple of months. The doctor running the labs should not be looking at just GFR. Tests for serum creatinine (sCR), Albumin to Creatinine Ratio (ACR), and Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) need to be run and evaluated before a doctor should make a diagnosis of CKD.

Be sure to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated, follow normal routines, especially with exercise, no fast food, no NSAIDs, processed foods, and if any underlying conditions, like diabetes and hypertension, are known, do everything possible to get and keep them under control.

Let us know how things go. Stay safe.

[Mandelin in reply to Hidden]

Thanks Mr. Kidney. He did all of the labs and everything looks good. I looked back on his other labs and they also say >60. Just wondering if that is normal for them to put that instead of 70, 80 or whatever. We have an appt. next week with him and will ask him also. He doesn’t see him for GFR, just has a spot on his kidney that doctor has been watching since his dad had cancer of the kidney. The spot hasn’t grown or any change.

[Hidden in reply to Mandelin]

I assume that he also ran diagnostic tests to know about the spot on the kidney. Those are positive signs. Different labs report in different ways, but you can ask the doctor about that on the next visit. Be sure he stays hydrated for the next lab and also discuss other reasons for the lower GFR. Kidney function does decline as a person ages.

Keep us posted.

[Mandelin in reply to Hidden]

Thanks. Will do.

[userotc]

~2 years ago, my 31-yr old brother saw the same result on Patient Access (>60) so queried with GP who said they used to just report that result. So he retested using current guidelines or labs and the reading was over 90. So it seems/seemed to be procedural at least here in UK.

[Mandelin in reply to userotc]

Thanks userotc.

[doug_johnson]

i'm pretty sure you could ask the doctor to call the lab and get the exact number.

[Mandelin]

Thanks Doug. I’ll ask next week when we have the appt. with him.