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Having an efficient pair of kidneys is important because your kidneys “purify” your dirty blood as well as regulate your hormones and blood flow.   Your kidneys have the ability to increase your blood pressure as well as stimulate enythropoeiten to produce more blood.   They are important organs but often not talked about.

If you get tired easily when you exercise or are on the Atkins diet, better have your kidneys check before it’s too late.  Kidney damage is irreversible and is a silent disease.   Not everyone feels pain when their kidneys are damaged, and according to the National Kidney Foundation, approximately 20 million Americans are at risk for kidney disease and do not even know it.

Below is a calculator that will help you estimate how well your kidneys are at processing creatinine (protein).  You will need to know your serum creatinine, which can be obtained from your doctor. Keep in mind that the eGFR (estimated glomerular filtration rate) is NOT 100% accurate.  The more accurate method is when a fluid and a dye gets injected subcutaneously and the doctor watches you over a period of time.  If your eGFR number does come out below the recommended table guidelines listed in the second link, call your doctor for further evaluation.

http://www.kidney.org/professionals/kdoqi/gfr_calculator.cfm
http://nephron.com/images/table_3.jpg

In addition, you will want to know your the Blood Urea Nitrogen score (also known as the BUN test) score, which measures how much nitrogen in the form your urea that your blood produces  Remember excess protein that the body can’t use will turn into nitrogen in the form of urea.   A higher score beyond the norm of 27 mmol/L may be an indication that the kidneys are “sluggish”.

For a Free Test Near You

http://www.kidney.org/news/keep/index.cfm

For Further Info

http://www.kidney.org/kidneyDisease/ckd/index.cfm

http://www.kidney.org/news/newsroom/newsitem.cfm?id=14&&cid=06