Creatinine level and Glomerular Filtration Rate (GFR) are two important indexes in assessing renal function. Nearly all patients with Kidney Disease are familiar with creatinine level but some patients do not know what GFR is at all. In fact, GFR and creatinine level are related to each other closely.
Creatinine is the metabolin of creatine existing in muscle. In normal condition, it is discharged out of body by kidneys. If people are not affected by some external factors such as eating much meat, taking intense exercise and so on, the creatinine level keeps constant in normal case. The normal level of creatinine is 0.6 to 1.2mg/dL (50-110mmol/L) in general. For different reference value, the normal level may vary with different hospitals. Therefore, the patients should not judge their creatinine level is high or low without referring to the specific reference value. Some patients think that if their creatinine level keeps within normal range, they do not have kidney damage. In fact, this idea is totally wrong. As kidneys have sufficient compensatory capacity, the kidneys can maintain the normal filtration function. Therefore, the kidneys will overwork for a long time. Usually, the creatinine level does not increase until the patients lose more than half of their renal function.
GFR measures how much blood volume is filtrated in on minute by glomeruli. Glomeruli are the basic nephrons and every kidney is composed of 1 million to 2 million glomeruli. In normal conditions, glomeruli can filtrate blood so as to excrete excessive water and the metabolic toxins and wastes out of body. Once kidneys are damaged, they will lose their normal filtration function so GFR will decline. In another word, GFR is an index measuring the remained renal function. According to GFR level, Chronic Kidney Disease is divided into 5 stages. As follows:
| Stage 1 | GFR > 90 ml/min |
| Stage 2 | GFR = 60-89 ml/min |
| Stage 3 | GFR = 30-59 ml/min |
| Stage 4 | GFR = 15-29 ml/min) |
| Stage 5 | GFR <15 ml/min) |
GFR and creatinine level have a lose relationship. If your creatinine level is as two times as high as the normal level, your GFR is properly has been halved. If your creatinine level three times higher than the normal level, the GFR may have declined to on fourth of the normal level. In a word, the higher GFR level is, the lower the creatine level will become.
If you want to know your specific disease condition by the values on your medical reports, you can ask us one line or email to kidney-treatment@hotmail.com.