What Does Low Creatinine Level Mean

Creatinine is a byproduct of muscle metabolism. When you have reduced muscle mass, creatinine level tend to be low. However, many factors can also cause low creatinine. If you happen to have low creatinine level, it may be induced by the following causes.

1. Reduced muscle mass

Muscular dystrophy

Muscular dystrophy is a condition which causes a loss of muscle over time. The long-term of loss of muscle tissue leads to muscle weakness. And at the beginning of the disease as the muscle tissues breaks down, you may have higher than normal levels of creatinine however, in the late stage, you may have a low creatinine level because the muscle mass reduces dramatically.

Myasthenia gravis

Myasthenia gravis leads to weakness in the skeletal muscles. Although patients in this condition can live a normal life expectancy, they will have a lesser muscle mass, leading to low creatinine levels.

2. Low protein diet

If you have a low protein diet for a long time, less creatinine phosphate will be broken down. In this condition, low creatinine level may occur. For this reason, high protein intake is recommended for you.

3. Age

Muscle mass will decrease as the age increases, so senior people usually have a low creatinine level.

4. Liver problem

Liver affects the creatinine productions. If you experience liver problem, such as fatty liver disease and hepatitis, low creatinine level can be led by this disease.

5. Kidney disease

If you have low creatinine level in the urine, it may indicate a kidney-related problem. Normally creatinine can be filtered by kidneys. Once kidneys are damaged, excess creatinine will pile up in the body, causing high creatinine level in the blood while low creatinine level in the urine.

Low creatinine level usually does not mean harmful causes, but occasionally, it may indicate serious medical conditions like kidney diseases. Taking tests timely and promptly contributes to finding the root cause of low creatinine level.