What causes creatinine to increase in blood?

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Creatinine is a waste product that is produced by your muscles. It is typically removed through the kidneys. Healthy kidneys filter creatinine out of your blood, and it leaves your body through urine. Your doctors can measure the amount of creatinine in your blood and in your urine to get an idea of how well your kidneys are working. This measurement is called creatinine clearance.

Having high creatinine levels probably isn’t harmful on its own, though it can be a marker of other health conditions—including chronic kidney disease (CKD). A serum creatinine blood test, along with factors such as age, weight, and medical history, can help doctors understand how well your kidneys are functioning and whether there may be an issue.

The urinary system is one of the different systems in our body. It is the renal system or urinary tract, which includes the urethra, bladder, ureters, and kidneys. The urinary system is responsible for regulating blood pH, controlling levels of metabolites and electrolytes, regulating blood pressure and blood volume, and, lastly, eliminating the waste from our body.

The pair of kidneys acts as a filter in humans and excretes all the chemical substances present in the blood. Creatinine is a waste product created by the metabolic activity of the muscles. It is converted from creatine to creatinine every day and excreted by the kidneys into the urine. After a certain age, it is advised to go for a regular checkup of creatinine levels in the body.

In case of high levels of creatinine, you should contact a health professional or doctor immediately. An abnormal increase in creatinine levels can be indicative of several kidney function diseases.

If you want to live a long and healthy life, try to include regular body checks ups.

What are the causes of high creatinine levels?

There can be various reasons for the high level of creatinine in the body. Some of the causes of creatinine increase are mentioned below. They are as follows:

Infection in kidney
Impairments of kidney functions
Doing strenuous exercises in excess
Consumption of protein and meat excessively
Specific foods and supplements can increase creatinine levels
Drug use
Certain specific medication
Alcoholism

Which health conditions cause due to high creatinine levels?

The presence of certain specific diseases or conditions can also cause disturbance in the creatinine levels of your body. Some of the diseases that can potentially raise it are mentioned below. They are as follows:

Sudden shock
Excessive blood loss
Autoimmune disorders
Urinary tract infections
High blood pressure
Abnormal muscle breakdown
Diabetes mellitus
Gout

What are the symptoms of elevated creatinine levels

Raised serum creatinine levels in the blood can be indicative of many diseases. So you should get a test done and contact a medical health professional if you notice any of the warning signs present in the body.

Some of the symptoms due to raised serum creatinine levels are mentioned below. They are as follows:

Mental confusion
Elevated blood pressure
Weakness
Muscle cramps
Chest pain
Dehydration
Changes in the frequency of urination
Nausea
Vomiting
Shortness of breath
Swelling or presence of oedema

How can I get my creatinine levels checked?

Below we have mentioned some tests that you must take if you are experiencing any signs or symptoms related to creatinine. They are as follows:

Serum Creatinine

The serum creatinine test can measure the exact creatinine levels in your blood. It will analyze the functioning of your kidney as high or abnormal creatinine levels can indicate several grave conditions or chronic kidney disease.

Some of the notable features of the serum creatinine test are given below. It is as follows:

Accurate reports analyzed by the lab professionals
Free sample pickup from home
NABL certified lab
Only online payment option available

KIDPRO

Opt for the KIDPRO test today and get detailed reports on the functioning of the kidney. All the essential parameters to test the various levels in the kidney are done through this test.

The parameters included in this test are as follows:

Uric acid
Serum creatinine
Calcium
Blood urea nitrogen [BUN]
BUN/ serum creatinine ratio

Conclusion

Do you want to get tension free from all health-related doubts? Don't worry; we can solve all your problems. Book a full body checkup package with Indus Health Plus today and get detailed information on the functioning of your kidney.

If you have any queries, our representative will address them. Please fill up the query form, and we will get back to you with the answers.

Creatinine has been found to be a fairly reliable indicator of kidney function.Source: MedicineNet/iStock

The kidneys maintain the blood creatinine in a normal range. Creatinine is a fairly reliable indicator of kidney function. Elevated creatinine level signifies impaired kidney function or kidney disease.

As the kidneys become impaired for any reason, the creatinine level in the blood will rise due to poor clearance of creatinine by the kidneys. Abnormally high levels of creatinine thus warn of possible malfunction or failure of the kidneys. It is for this reason that standard blood tests routinely check the amount of creatinine in the blood.

A more precise measure of kidney function can be estimated by calculating how much creatinine is cleared from the body by the kidneys. This is referred to as creatinine clearance and it estimates the rate of filtration by kidneys (glomerular filtration rate, or GFR). The creatinine clearance can be measured in two ways.

It can be calculated (estimated) by a formula using serum (blood) creatinine level, patient's weight, and age. The formula is 140 minus the patient's age in years times their weight in kilograms (times 0.85 for women), divided by 72 times the serum creatinine level in mg/dL.
Creatinine clearance can also be more directly measured by collecting a 24-hour urine sample and then drawing a blood sample. The creatinine levels in both urine and blood are determined and compared.

Normal creatinine clearance for healthy women is 88-128 mL/min. and 97 to 137 mL/min. in males (normal levels may vary slightly between labs).

Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) level is another indicator of kidney function. Urea is also a metabolic byproduct that can build up if kidney function is impaired. The BUN-to-creatinine ratio generally provides more precise information about kidney function and its possible underlying cause compared with creatinine level alone. BUN also increases with dehydration.

Recently, elevated creatinine levels in infants were associated with bacteremia while elevated levels in adult males have been linked to an incresed risk of prostate cancer.

Early kidney disease is a silent problem, like high blood pressure, and does not have any symptoms. People may have CKD but not know it because they do not feel sick. A person's glomerular filtration rate (GFR) is a measure of how well the kidneys are filtering wastes from the blood. GFR is estimated from a routine measurement of creatinine in the blood. The result is called the estimated GFR (eGFR).

Creatinine is a waste product formed by the normal breakdown of muscle cells. Healthy kidneys take creatinine out of the blood and put it into the urine to leave the body. When the kidneys are not working well, creatinine builds up in the blood.

Read more about signs and symptoms of chronic kidney disease »

High creatinine levels that reach 2.0 or more in babies and 5.0 or more in adults may indicate severe kidney impairment.Source: iStock

Normal levels of creatinine in the blood are approximately 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams (mg) per deciliter (dL) in adult males and 0.5 to 1.1 milligrams per deciliter in adult females. (In the metric system, a milligram is a unit of weight equal to one-thousandth of a gram, and a deciliter is a unit of volume equal to one-tenth of a liter.)

A person with only one kidney may have a normal level of about 1.8 or 1.9.
High creatinine levels that reach 2.0 or more in babies and 5.0 or more in adults may indicate severe kidney impairment.
The need for a dialysis machine to remove wastes from the blood is based upon several considerations including the BUN, creatinine level, potassium level, and how much fluid the patient is retaining.
Low creatinine levels indicate malnutrition, severe weight loss, long term illness, and low muscle mass such as in the elderly and infant

The most common causes of longstanding (chronic) kidney disease in adults are high blood pressure and diabetes.Source: iStock

The symptoms of kidney dysfunction (renal insufficiency) vary widely. They generally do not correlate with the level of creatinine in the blood.

Some people may have an incidental finding of severe kidney disease and elevated creatinine on routine blood work without having any symptoms.
In others, depending on the cause of the problem, different symptoms of kidney failure may be present including:
- feeling dehydrated,
- fatigue,
- loss of appetite,
- Insomnia,
- excessive urination or lower than normal urination,
- swelling (edema),
- shortness of breath,
- confusion, or
- many other nonspecific symptoms (for example, nausea, vomiting, neuropathy, and dry skin).

Kidney infections, rhabdomyolysis (abnormal muscle breakdown) and urinary tract obstruction may also elevate creatinine levels.Source: iStock

Any condition that impairs the function of the kidneys is likely to raise the creatinine level in the blood. It is important to recognize whether the process leading to kidney dysfunction (kidney failure, azotemia) is longstanding or recent. Recent elevations may be more easily treated and reversed.

The most common causes of longstanding (chronic) kidney disease in adults are

high blood pressure and
diabetes.

Other causes of elevated blood creatinine levels are:

Certain drugs (for example, cimetidine [Bactrim]) can sometimes cause abnormally elevated creatinine levels.
Serum creatinine can also transiently increase after ingestion of a large amount of dietary meat; thus, nutrition can sometimes play a role in creatinine measurement.
Kidney infections, rhabdomyolysis (abnormal muscle breakdown), and urinary tract obstruction may also elevate creatinine levels.

Muscular young or middle-aged adults may have more creatinine in their blood than the norm for the general population.
Elderly persons may have less creatinine in their blood than the norm. Infants have normal levels of about 0.2 or more, depending on their muscle development.
In people with malnutrition, severe weight loss, and long-standing illnesses, the muscle mass tends to diminish over time and, therefore, their creatinine level may be lower than expected for their age.

The only purpose of the kidneys is to filter blood. See Answer

Medically Reviewed on 3/18/2022

REFERENCE:

Vadde, R. "Creatinine Clearance." Medscape. May 7, 2013. <https://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2117892-overview>