You have a creatinine number in front of you and you want to know one thing: is it dangerous? This page answers that as directly as the honest answer allows, value by value, from 1.4 through 1.7 and 3.3 up to 9. It also explains the part most search results skip, which is that the number on its own is a poor predictor of how worried you should be, and what actually is.
Here is the short answer before anything else. A single creatinine reading is almost never enough to justify either panic or reassurance. What determines whether a level is worrying is not the value in isolation but three things sitting behind it: how fast it got there, what your own normal looks like, and whether anything else is wrong. A creatinine of 1.4 in a heavily built man who has always run at 1.3 is a non-event. The same 1.4 in a small woman who measured 0.7 three months ago is a genuine concern and should be looked at this week. The number is identical. The meaning is not remotely the same.
That said, people arrive here with a specific figure and deserve specific guidance, so this page gives ranges, gives the common individual values people search for, and is clear about which situations mean call a doctor today rather than mention it at your next appointment. If you have not yet read what the test actually measures, our guide to what creatinine is covers the basics in plain language and will make everything below easier to follow.
Check your units. A result in µmol/L compared against an mg/dL range is the single most common cause of unnecessary alarm. Divide µmol/L by 88.4 to get mg/dL. All values on this page are mg/dL unless stated. You can also run your value through the Waldev creatinine clearance calculator to see the filtration estimate it corresponds to for your age, sex and weight.
On this page
Start here: when to seek help immediately
Most of this page is about interpreting a number calmly. This section is the exception, because a small number of situations should not wait for a repeat test or a routine appointment.
Seek medical care promptly if your raised creatinine comes with any of the following:
Passing much less urine than usual, or none at all. New or rapidly worsening swelling in the legs, ankles or face. Breathlessness at rest or when lying flat. Confusion, drowsiness or difficulty staying alert. Nausea and vomiting that stops you keeping fluids down. Chest pain or an irregular heartbeat. Severe flank or back pain. A creatinine that has jumped sharply within days rather than drifting over months.
These combinations can indicate acute kidney injury or dangerous electrolyte disturbance, and both are treatable when caught early. This is an emergency-department or urgent same-day appointment situation, not a wait-and-see one.
If none of that applies and you simply have a number slightly outside a printed range with no symptoms, you are in the far more common situation, and the rest of this page is written for you.
Why there is no single number that means danger
People want a threshold. Something like: below this, fine; above this, worry. Every clinician would love one too. It does not exist, and the reason is worth understanding because it reframes the whole question.
Creatinine is a waste product your muscles make at a steady daily rate. How much you produce depends heavily on how much muscle you carry, which is why the same blood level means different things in different bodies. A 30-year-old rugby player and a frail 82-year-old can both measure 1.3, and the player’s kidneys may be filtering perfectly while the 82-year-old’s are filtering at half the rate you would want.
The second reason is the shape of the relationship between creatinine and kidney filtration. It is not a straight line. It is a curve, and a steep one at the wrong end. Early in kidney decline, healthy filtering units compensate for damaged ones and creatinine barely moves, so a great deal of function can be lost before the number leaves the reference range at all. Once it does start climbing, small increases represent large losses.
That curve is why the honest framing is not “which number is dangerous” but “what does this number, in this person, moving at this speed, most likely represent.”
The most useful thing you can do before interpreting today’s result is find your previous ones. Two creatinine values six months apart tell you far more than one value ever can, and most people have old results sitting in a patient portal they have never opened.
Creatinine ranges and what each broadly means
With every caveat above firmly in place, here is a general orientation. These are adult values in mg/dL, and they describe tendencies rather than diagnoses. Your own laboratory’s reference range, printed on your report, takes precedence over any table on the internet.
| Creatinine (mg/dL) | µmol/L equivalent | Broad interpretation | Typical response |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below 0.6 | Below 53 | Low. Often low muscle mass, pregnancy, or liver disease rather than a kidney problem | Worth mentioning; rarely urgent |
| 0.6 – 1.3 | 53 – 115 | Within most adult reference ranges | Routine, unless it has moved a lot from your own baseline |
| 1.4 – 1.9 | 124 – 168 | Mildly raised. Very often explainable; sometimes early impairment | Repeat test, review medications and hydration |
| 2.0 – 2.9 | 177 – 256 | Moderately raised. Meaningful reduction in filtration likely | Proper workup, usually including urine tests and imaging |
| 3.0 – 4.9 | 265 – 433 | Substantially raised. Advanced impairment in most people | Nephrology involvement, close monitoring |
| 5.0 and above | 442 and above | Severe. Approaching or within kidney failure territory for most adults | Specialist care; planning for replacement therapy may begin |
Notice what those right-hand columns describe: investigation, not conclusion. Even at the high end, the number tells you clearance has fallen badly. It does not tell you why, and the why determines whether the situation is reversible. A blocked urinary tract producing a creatinine of 4 can improve dramatically once the blockage is relieved. Long-standing diabetic kidney damage producing the same 4 will not.
To convert any of these into an estimated filtration rate for your own age, sex and weight, the CrCl calculator does it instantly, and the normal creatinine clearance range by age shows what that output should look like for someone your age.
The specific values people search for
Certain numbers come up again and again, usually because they are the ones printed on real reports. Here is what each generally represents, with the same caveat throughout: context decides.
Is a creatinine of 1.4 dangerous?
Usually not dangerous, and frequently not even abnormal. For an adult man, 1.4 sits just above many reference ranges and can be entirely normal for someone with above-average muscle. For a small woman it is a more meaningful elevation and deserves a look. The most common causes at this level are dehydration, a recent heavy protein meal, hard exercise in the previous couple of days, a new medication, or simply a body that produces more creatinine than the reference population.
The right response to 1.4 is almost always a repeat test after a few days of normal hydration and no unusual exercise, together with a review of what you are taking. If it repeats at 1.4 and your previous results were also around there, that is your baseline. If your previous results were 0.8, the jump matters much more than the value.
Is a creatinine level of 1.48 dangerous?
The same answer as 1.4, because 1.48 and 1.4 are not clinically distinguishable. Laboratory assays carry measurement variation of several percent, and biological variation within one person across a week is larger still. Reading significance into the second decimal place is reading noise. Treat 1.48 exactly as you would treat 1.4: repeat it, check your medications, look at your history.
Is a creatinine level of 1.7 dangerous?
This is the most searched specific value, and the honest answer is: not immediately dangerous, but not something to file away either. At 1.7 you are clearly above the standard adult range regardless of sex, and while muscular build can still explain part of it, it explains less than it does at 1.4. In most adults 1.7 corresponds to a meaningfully reduced filtration rate.
What 1.7 warrants is a proper look rather than alarm: a repeat measurement, a urine test for protein or albumin, blood pressure checked, a medication review, and a conversation about diabetes and blood pressure history. Many people sit stably at 1.7 for years with well-managed kidney disease and never progress further. Others are on their way up. The only way to know which you are is to measure again and compare.
Is a creatinine level of 3.3 dangerous?
Considerably more serious. At 3.3 the great majority of adults have substantially reduced kidney filtration, and this is firmly in specialist territory. It is not usually an emergency by itself, and people live and work with levels around here, but it does need active management rather than monitoring alone.
At this level the concerns broaden beyond the kidney: blood pressure, anaemia, bone and mineral balance, potassium, and careful attention to drug dosing, since many medications need adjusting when clearance falls this far. If you have a 3.3 and no nephrologist, that is the gap worth closing.
Is a creatinine level of 9 dangerous?
Yes. A creatinine of 9 represents severe loss of kidney function in essentially any adult, and it is not a number to research at home before deciding what to do. Anyone with a level in this range needs urgent specialist assessment, and depending on symptoms and blood chemistry, may need dialysis. If you are looking at a 9 and are not already under the care of a kidney team, contact a doctor today.
The same applies to anything above roughly 5 in someone who has not previously had very high readings. High values in someone with established, stable, long-standing kidney disease are a different conversation from the same value appearing out of nowhere.
A word on the very high end: there is no fixed creatinine at which dialysis starts. It is a decision made on symptoms, blood chemistry, fluid status and filtration rate together, not on one number crossing a line. Two people with identical creatinine can have quite different treatment plans.
The three questions that matter more than the number
If you take one thing from this page, make it this. Before deciding how worried to be, answer these.
A creatinine that rose from 0.9 to 1.6 over four days is a far more urgent problem than one that drifted from 1.2 to 1.6 over four years, even though the destination is identical. Speed separates acute injury, which is often reversible and needs immediate attention, from chronic decline, which needs management over time.
Reference ranges describe populations, not people. If you have consistently measured 1.25 for a decade, that is your baseline and a 1.3 means nothing. If you have consistently measured 0.7, a 1.1 sits comfortably inside the “normal” range and represents a nearly 60 percent rise that no one should wave through.
An isolated raised creatinine with normal urine, normal blood pressure and no symptoms is a very different situation from the same number alongside protein in the urine, hypertension, swelling or fatigue. The accompanying findings usually carry more diagnostic weight than the creatinine itself.
Clinicians run through exactly this sequence, which is why a good appointment about a raised creatinine involves more questions than you might expect about your last few weeks rather than a verdict delivered from the number alone.
Speed of change, and why clinicians watch it closely
Acute kidney injury is defined by change over time, not by an absolute value. The widely used criteria look for a rise of at least 0.3 mg/dL within 48 hours, or a rise to one and a half times a known baseline within seven days, or a marked fall in urine output. Notice that none of those requires the creatinine to be high in absolute terms. Someone whose baseline is 0.6 can meet the definition at 0.95, a value that looks entirely unremarkable on paper.
This is the single most common way a serious problem gets missed by someone reading their own results. The number sits inside the printed range, so it carries no flag, and the software does not know what your normal is. Only you and your doctor, looking at your history, can see the jump.
| Pattern | What it usually suggests | Urgency |
|---|---|---|
| Sharp rise over days | Acute kidney injury: dehydration, obstruction, drug effect, infection | High. Needs prompt assessment; often reversible |
| Steady climb over months to years | Chronic kidney disease progressing | Moderate. Needs management, not emergency care |
| Stable, mildly raised, unchanged for years | Established stable impairment, or simply a high personal baseline | Low. Routine monitoring |
| One high reading, normal before and after | Transient cause or laboratory variation | Low, once confirmed by repeat |
| Fluctuating up and down repeatedly | Often hydration, heart failure, or intermittent medication effects | Moderate. Pattern needs explaining |
For the fuller picture of how change over time feeds into staging and treatment decisions, the NIDDK overview of chronic kidney disease explains what the condition actually involves, and its guidance on tests and diagnosis covers why creatinine is never assessed alone.
Symptoms that change how worried you should be
Kidneys are quiet organs. Substantial function can be lost without producing anything you would notice, which is precisely why the blood test exists. When symptoms do appear alongside a raised creatinine, they raise the priority considerably.
Symptoms that warrant prompt attention
Passing much less urine than usual. Swelling of legs, ankles or face. Breathlessness, especially lying flat. Confusion or unusual drowsiness. Persistent vomiting. Chest pain or palpitations. Severe flank pain.
Symptoms worth raising, but less urgent
Persistent fatigue. Poor appetite or a metallic taste. Itchy skin. Difficulty sleeping. Muscle cramps, particularly at night. Foamy urine. Needing to urinate more often overnight.
The second list is easy to attribute to stress, age, or a busy period, and often that attribution is correct, much as it usually is for bloating people blame on creatinine. What makes them worth mentioning is the combination: several of them together, alongside a creatinine that has moved, is a pattern rather than a coincidence.
Equally, the absence of symptoms should not be read as reassurance at a high creatinine. Plenty of people feel completely well at levels that concern their doctors considerably, because the body adapts gradually to slow decline.
When a raised creatinine is a false alarm
A good share of elevated results have nothing to do with kidney damage. Running through these first can save a great deal of unnecessary worry.
You are dehydrated. The most common transient cause by far. Less circulating volume means less blood reaching the kidney and a higher measured concentration. It corrects with fluids.
You ate a lot of cooked meat before the test. Cooking converts creatine in meat into creatinine, which you then absorb. A large steak the night before can lift a morning result.
You trained hard in the last day or two. Intense exercise increases muscle turnover and temporarily raises production.
You take creatine. A larger creatine pool converts to more creatinine daily. Kidney function is unchanged; production has risen. Tell your doctor, because it is invisible otherwise.
You started a medication that blocks tubular secretion. Trimethoprim, cimetidine, cobicistat and dolutegravir all raise measured creatinine within days without reducing actual filtration. The effect is real, expected, and not damage.
You are simply muscular. More muscle, more creatinine, permanently. The lab flag compares you against an average you do not belong to.
The sample or assay was off. Uncommon, but laboratory error exists, which is one more reason a single abnormal result is usually repeated before anyone acts on it.
None of these mean an elevated result should be ignored. They mean the sensible first step after one high reading is usually a repeat under better conditions, not an immediate investigation.
When to worry about a creatinine that is too low
Far fewer people search for this, and it causes less alarm, which is broadly appropriate. A low creatinine is rarely dangerous in itself. It is a signal about something else.
The usual explanations are reduced muscle mass from ageing, prolonged illness, malnutrition or immobility; pregnancy, where blood volume expands and filtration rises; and advanced liver disease, which reduces creatine synthesis. Each of those matters clinically, but the creatinine is the messenger rather than the problem.
The one genuine trap with low creatinine is what it hides. Because production is low, the blood level stays low even if filtration falls, so kidney impairment can be masked in exactly the people most likely to have it. This is why an eighty-year-old with a creatinine of 0.9 may have meaningfully worse kidney function than a thirty-year-old with 1.3, and why clinicians estimate filtration rather than reading the raw number in older patients.
What your doctor will actually do next
Knowing the sequence takes some of the fear out of it, because the first steps are almost always simple.
Usually after a week or two, sometimes sooner. One value is a data point; two make a direction. This step alone resolves a large share of mildly raised results.
Albumin-to-creatinine ratio or protein-to-creatinine ratio. Protein leaking into urine says more about kidney damage than the blood creatinine does, and the two together are how kidney disease is properly staged.
NSAIDs, some blood pressure drugs, certain antibiotics and contrast dye all feature here. So do diabetes, hypertension, recent illness and family history.
Urea, electrolytes, calcium, phosphate and haemoglobin fill in the picture. A raised urea alongside creatinine points in different directions depending on the ratio between them.
An ultrasound looks for obstruction, stones, cysts and kidney size. It is quick, harmless, and rules out several treatable causes.
Rapid decline, significant protein in the urine, very reduced filtration, or an unclear cause all prompt referral to a nephrologist.
The National Kidney Foundation’s guide to eGFR sets out the filtration ranges those decisions are built around, and MedlinePlus on the creatinine test covers what the test involves if you are being asked to repeat it.
Who is most likely to see creatinine climb
Context includes who you are, not just what your last few days looked like. Some people should read a borderline result with more suspicion than others, because their prior probability of genuine kidney impairment is simply higher.
Diabetes and high blood pressure sit at the top of that list by a wide margin. Between them they account for the majority of chronic kidney disease worldwide, and both damage the kidney slowly and silently over years. If you have had either for a decade, a creatinine drifting upward is more likely to be real than incidental, and it deserves less benefit of the doubt.
Beyond those two, the risk rises with age, with a family history of kidney disease, with cardiovascular disease and heart failure, with obesity, with recurrent kidney stones or urinary infections, and with autoimmune conditions such as lupus. Long-term use of anti-inflammatory painkillers is a quieter contributor that people rarely connect to their kidneys, and it is one of the most modifiable items on the list. Certain ethnic groups also carry higher population risk, which is why screening guidance differs by background in some countries.
The practical use of this is calibration rather than fatalism. A 34-year-old with no risk factors and a one-off 1.4 after a gym week is in a very different position from a 68-year-old with twenty years of type 2 diabetes and the same 1.4. Both should repeat the test. Only one of them should expect the repeat to explain it away.
If you sit in a higher-risk group, the useful ask at your next appointment is not just about the creatinine but about the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio. In diabetes and hypertension, albumin in the urine frequently appears years before the blood creatinine moves, which makes it the earlier warning of the two.
How often the number should be rechecked
Monitoring frequency is set by your doctor and depends on the cause and the degree of impairment, but knowing the rough shape of it helps you tell whether you are being followed appropriately.
A one-off mildly raised result with a likely explanation is usually repeated within one to two weeks. If it settles, most people return to routine annual bloods. Stable, mild impairment with no protein in the urine is often checked every six to twelve months. More significant reduction in filtration, or protein in the urine, typically means every three to six months, and sometimes more often while things are being established. Anyone with rapidly changing values, a recent acute injury, or a newly started medication that affects the kidney will be checked far more frequently, sometimes within days.
What should not happen is a raised result that is noted and never followed up. If you had an abnormal creatinine and nobody has arranged a repeat, that is worth chasing yourself rather than assuming no news is good news. Results going unactioned is a more common failure than misinterpretation.
Mistakes people make when reading their own result
Comparing across unit systems. Seeing 150 and panicking, when 150 µmol/L is 1.7 mg/dL. Check the unit before anything else.
Treating the reference range as a cliff edge. The boundary between 1.29 and 1.31 is a statistical convention, not a biological transition.
Reading the second decimal place. 1.48 versus 1.4 is measurement noise, not information.
Ignoring a rise that stayed inside the range. The most consequential error on this list. A move from 0.7 to 1.1 carries no lab flag and may matter a great deal.
Comparing results from two different laboratories. Assay methods differ. Track your trend within one lab where you can.
Searching for a diet fix before finding the cause. Diet has a role in managing established kidney disease, under guidance. It is not a substitute for finding out why the number moved.
Assuming no symptoms means no problem. Kidney decline is usually silent until it is advanced.
What to do this week
A practical sequence for someone holding a mildly raised result with no red-flag symptoms.
Start by confirming the unit and reading the reference range printed on your own report rather than any range you find online. Then dig out your previous results, which for most people means logging into a patient portal; the trend is the single most valuable thing you can bring to an appointment. Write down every medication and supplement you take, including anything over the counter, because NSAIDs and creatine are both common and both relevant. Note what the few days before the test looked like: fluid intake, exercise, a large meat meal, any illness.
Then book an appointment rather than waiting for the next routine one, and ask three specific questions: should this be repeated and when, should my urine be checked for protein, and does anything I am taking affect this reading. Those three cover most of what needs to happen at this stage.
While you are waiting, drink normally rather than excessively, avoid anti-inflammatories unless a doctor has told you otherwise, and hold off on any supplement marketed for kidney cleansing. If red-flag symptoms appear in the meantime, do not wait for the appointment.
The Waldev creatinine clearance calculator converts your value into an estimated filtration rate for your age, sex and weight, which is far more interpretable than the raw figure. It sits with the rest of the Waldev health calculators.
To go deeper on the surrounding topics: what creatinine actually is explains where the number comes from, what creatinine clearance means covers the concept behind the calculator, the normal clearance range by age shows what to expect at your age, creatinine clearance versus GFR untangles two terms people use interchangeably, the comparison of the estimating equations explains why different calculators give different answers, and clearance in drug dosing covers why the number gets calculated in the first place.
When to worry about creatinine levels: frequently asked questions
At what creatinine level should I worry?
There is no single threshold, which is unsatisfying but true. Broadly, values up to about 1.3 mg/dL sit within most adult ranges, 1.4 to 1.9 is mildly raised and usually warrants a repeat test rather than alarm, 2.0 to 2.9 needs a proper workup, and anything above 3.0 needs specialist involvement. But a rise from your own baseline matters more than crossing any of those lines. A move from 0.7 to 1.1 stays inside the “normal” range and represents a substantial change that deserves attention, while a stable 1.35 in someone who has always measured there may mean nothing at all.
Is a creatinine level of 1.7 dangerous?
Not immediately dangerous, but not something to ignore. At 1.7 you are clearly above the standard adult reference range, and in most people this corresponds to a meaningfully reduced filtration rate. It calls for a repeat measurement, a urine test for protein, a blood pressure check and a medication review rather than emergency care. Many people sit stably at this level for years with well-managed kidney disease and never progress. The question that matters is whether your number is stable at 1.7 or on its way there from somewhere lower.
Is 1.4 or 1.48 creatinine dangerous?
Usually not, and the two figures are not clinically distinguishable from each other. Laboratory assays carry a few percent of measurement variation, and your own biological variation across a week is larger, so reading meaning into the second decimal place is reading noise. For an adult man with decent muscle mass, 1.4 can be entirely normal. For a small woman it is a more meaningful elevation. Either way the sensible response is a repeat test after a few days of normal hydration and no heavy exercise, plus a look at what medications you are taking.
Is a creatinine of 9 dangerous?
Yes. A creatinine of 9 mg/dL represents severe loss of kidney function in essentially any adult, and it needs urgent specialist assessment rather than online research. Depending on symptoms, fluid status and blood chemistry, dialysis may be required. If you are looking at a number in this range and are not already under the care of a kidney team, contact a doctor today. The same urgency applies to any value above roughly 5 appearing in someone who has not had very high readings before.
How quickly should I act on a high creatinine?
It depends almost entirely on speed of change and symptoms rather than the value. A sharp rise over days, particularly with reduced urine output, swelling, breathlessness or confusion, needs same-day medical attention because acute kidney injury is often reversible when caught early. A mildly raised result with no symptoms and no dramatic change from previous readings can reasonably wait for a routine appointment and a repeat test. If you have no previous results to compare against, err toward booking sooner rather than later so a baseline can be established.
Can a high creatinine come down again?
Often, yes, depending on the cause. Elevations from dehydration, a heavy meat meal, hard exercise, or a medication that blocks tubular secretion typically resolve once the cause is removed. Acute kidney injury from obstruction or a drug reaction can improve substantially with treatment. What generally does not reverse is established structural damage from long-standing diabetes or hypertension, where the goal shifts from lowering the number to slowing further decline. This is exactly why identifying the cause matters more than chasing the number down.
Does a normal creatinine mean my kidneys are fine?
Not necessarily. Creatinine stays within the reference range until a substantial share of filtration capacity is already lost, because healthy filtering units compensate for damaged ones. It is also production-dependent, so someone with low muscle mass can have significant impairment while their blood level looks unremarkable. This is why kidney assessment includes a urine test for albumin or protein: damage can be visible there long before the blood creatinine moves. A normal creatinine is reassuring, but it is not proof.
What symptoms come with a dangerously high creatinine?
The ones that should prompt immediate care are passing much less urine than usual, new or worsening swelling in the legs, ankles or face, breathlessness especially when lying flat, confusion or unusual drowsiness, persistent vomiting, and chest pain or palpitations. Less urgent but worth reporting are ongoing fatigue, poor appetite, a metallic taste, itchy skin, night-time cramps and foamy urine. Be aware that many people with high creatinine feel entirely well, because the body adapts to gradual decline, so the absence of symptoms is not reassurance at a high value.
Should I change my diet because of a high creatinine?
Not on your own initiative, and not before the cause is known. Dietary changes have a genuine role in managing established kidney disease, but the specifics depend on your filtration rate, your potassium and phosphate levels and your other conditions, and getting them wrong can do harm. Restricting protein without supervision risks malnutrition and muscle loss, which brings its own problems. The useful pre-appointment steps are drinking normally, avoiding anti-inflammatory painkillers unless prescribed, and steering clear of supplements marketed for kidney cleansing.
Why is my creatinine high if I feel completely fine?
Because kidneys are quiet organs and because several harmless things raise the number. High muscle mass, creatine supplementation, dehydration, a recent large meat meal, hard training and certain medications all lift measured creatinine without any loss of filtration. Beyond those, genuine kidney impairment is frequently symptomless until it is advanced, since decline is gradual and the body adapts. Feeling well is good news and is not, by itself, an explanation. The way to tell the difference is a repeat test, a urine check, and a look at your previous results.
Continue across the creatinine guides
Once you know whether your own number needs attention, these guides cover what comes next.
Understanding the result
What a high result signifies · The five categories of cause · Normal ranges by age and sex · The blood test explained
If your value is low instead
When to worry about a low value · What low creatinine means · What causes it
Taking action
How to lower creatinine · Protecting kidney function · Medical treatment options · Medications that raise it
Kidney disease stages
Creatinine in stage 3 · Creatinine in stage 4 · Levels indicating kidney failure · When dialysis is considered
The short version
No single creatinine value is the danger line. Roughly speaking, up to 1.3 mg/dL sits within most adult ranges, 1.4 to 1.9 usually means repeat and review, 2.0 to 2.9 means a proper workup, and 3.0 and above means specialist care. But how fast the number moved, what your own baseline is, and what else is going on all carry more weight than where it falls on that scale.
Seek help the same day if a raised creatinine comes with much reduced urine output, new swelling, breathlessness, confusion or persistent vomiting, or if it has jumped sharply within days. Otherwise, find your previous results, check your units, list your medications, and book a repeat test. Put your value in context with the CrCl calculator, and read more across the creatinine blog category, the wider health blog, and the full tool library at waldev.com.
Medical disclaimer: This article is general educational information about a laboratory test and cannot assess your individual situation. It is not medical advice and must not be used to decide whether to seek care, delay care, or change any treatment. Reference ranges vary between laboratories, and results must be interpreted alongside your history, medications, symptoms and other tests. Always discuss your own results with a doctor or qualified healthcare professional, and seek urgent medical attention if you have symptoms that concern you.
NIDDK explains what chronic kidney disease involves, how it progresses, and who is at risk. What is chronic kidney disease →
NIDDK on the tests used to diagnose kidney disease, and why blood and urine results are read together. CKD tests & diagnosis →
The National Kidney Foundation sets out eGFR values, the five CKD stages and what each means. Estimated GFR explained →