Why does gfr decrease

Drinking enough water is good advice for anyone, but it can also help your kidney health. Kidney experts recommend that you drink enough water to make around 2 liters of urine per day. Dehydration concentrates your urine, which can cause damage.

Exactly how much water you should drink is up for debate , and clinical studies are still investigating just how much water it would take to help your kidneys. They have shown that any benefit is only seen with plain water, not sweetened drinks. There are other cases where you may need to limit how much water you drink. If you have severe kidney disease, your doctor may place you on a fluid restriction. This is because your kidneys are less effective at removing extra water from your body.

The extra fluid can lead to swelling and edema , and may need to be removed by other means, like hemodialysis. A number of medications can impair or cause damage to the kidneys.

Your doctor can determine the best course of action in terms of stopping these medications or replacing them with a different kind of medication. Kidney disease can develop slowly over time, but some symptoms may be a sign that something is wrong.

These include:. Talk with your doctor about your risks for kidney disease, or any family history of kidney problems. Many times, people are diagnosed with kidney disease when routine lab work is done for another reason.

Your doctor may ask you to make some changes to support your kidney health. While few medications can help treat kidney disease, managing conditions like high blood pressure and diabetes can go a long way in extending the life of your kidneys. To increase your GFR and your kidney function, talk with your doctor about changes you can make to your lifestyle and diet. The best thing you can do to protect your kidneys is to try to avoid damaging them in the first place.

Avoid medications that are toxic to your kidneys, eat well, stay hydrated, and keep your blood sugar and blood pressure in control. In addition to tracking your GFR, blood tests can show when substances in your blood are out of balance.

If phosphorus or potassium levels start to climb, a blood test will prompt your health care provider to address these issues before they permanently affect your health. Department of Health and Human Services. Search temple health. What Are the Stages of Kidney Disease? Transplant Program. Back One Level. Understanding Kidney Disease. Your healthcare provider is likely to order other tests that measure kidney function and waste products, such as:.

Test results may vary depending on your age, sex, health history, the method used for the test, and other things. Your test results may not mean you have a problem. Ask your healthcare provider what your test results mean for you. The normal range for GFR depends on your age, weight, r and muscle mass. In most healthy people, the normal GFR is 90 or higher.

If your test results indicate you have early kidney disease, your healthcare provider may want to take steps to treat it aggressively. The test is done with a blood sample.

A needle is used to draw blood from a vein in your arm or hand. Having a blood test with a needle has some risks. Your creatinine levels are used in the calculation — in situations where the level is not steady eg acute kidney failure or muscle breakdown , the eGFR will also be less accurate. To account for the effect of race, the formula increases the GFR in African Americans in view of their greater average muscle mass than compared to Caucasians. As a result of the automatic reporting of eGFR, the clinical detection of kidney disease has significantly increased in the community.

In , a clinical study involving outpatients was performed to evaluate the effect of automatic laboratory reporting of eGFR with each request for serum creatinine. The effects on detection of chronic kidney disease were assessed.

This automatic reporting was combined with education aimed at doctors involved in the study. The presence of an eGFR value, in conjunction with education significantly increased the detection of chronic kidney disease from However, further research needs to be conducted regarding the significance and longer term outcomes resulting from this improved detection of chronic kidney disease.

Last but not least, if the eGFR is normal, but there are other abnormal investigation results eg abnormal urine findings or uncontrolled, high blood pressure , the GFR should be calculated. View more information about myVMC. Please be aware that we do not give advice on your individual medical condition, if you want advice please see your treating physician. Parenting information is available at Parenthub. Are you a Health Professional?

Jump over to the doctors only platform. Click Here. What is the GFR and how do we calculate it? It is also important to remember that your GFR is affected by other factors such as gender, age and your body size.

There is considerable variation even amongst people in the population who have similar characteristics. The Cockcroft-Gault equation, accounts for age, sex and muscle mass this value is multiplied by 1.

What are the normal ranges? Management and further investigation of reduced GFR If you are found to have a decreased GFR level, the doctor may ask you some more questions, perform a clinical examination and certain investigations to work out the underlying cause of your abnormal result.

Have there been any causes of insults to the kidneys?