BUN 37,Creatinine 3.25, GFR 20: How Long can I Go before Dialysis

A:

Patient: Normal levels of BUN are between 10 to 20mg/dL for an adult and 5 to 18mg/dL for a child. Normal creatinine levels are between 0.5 to 1.3mg/dL for an adult and 0.6 to 1.3 mg/dL for an adult. With the progression of kidney problem, BUN level and creatinine level increases, and generally when creatinine level increases to 5, dialysis will be suggested.

In our kidneys, there are more than two millions of nephrons. When a small group of nephrons are damaged, other healthy kidney tissues will work hardy to help us maintain creatinine level and blood urea nitrogen level into normal range. Therefore, kidney problem in early stage causes no obvious symptoms and high creatinine level at all. According to clinical experiments, creatinine begins to increase when about a half of kidney tissues are damaged and once creatinine level increases, kidney function decreases quickly. Your present BUN is 37, creatinine level is 3.25 and GFR is 20. Under such a condition, if you meet any risky factors like cold and infection, your disease will develop to End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) within one year. Therefore, it means a lot to have a good nursing care and management about the disease.

Besides, kidney function declines as more and more kidney tissues are damaged, so protecting residual healthy kidney tissues is also very necessary to stop kidney problem from progressing to ESRD. Immunotherapy is a combination of Chinese medicine and western medications and show great treatment effects in improving kidney condition. Immunotherapy is effective, but it is only suitable for these who have urine output. Therefore, if you still have urine output, you can have a try about this therapy.