Tuesday, May 31, 2011

BUN test - the diagnosis of renal disease effectively

If the doctor suspects that you have the symptoms of kidney disease, may order a test for blood urea nitrogen for you. This is a test of blood urea nitrogen, which indicates how well your kidneys are working. suspicious symptoms include swelling of the hands or feet (or across the body), increased or decreased urination and unexplained fatigue.

How to test blood urea nitrogen?

Since the liver metabolizes food, breaking amino acids and produce nitrogen as part ofthe waste product, urea. When the kidneys are functioning properly travels urea by the liver to the kidneys for excretion in the urine. However, if the kidneys are not working properly, do not remove the urea in the most effective, leading to higher levels of blood urea nitrogen.

A BUN test measures the amount of blood urea nitrogen in blood to diagnose if you have kidney problems. This test is often done with a blood test for creatininemore accurate diagnosis. It determines your BUN-creatinine ratio, which can help reveal whether there are other problems such as dehydration that are affecting the results.

BUN Test Results

If the results indicate that the blood urea nitrogen levels are higher than normal kidneys can be damaged. The normal range is 7 to 20 milligrams (mg) of urea nitrogen per deciliter (dl) of blood for adults and 18 of 5 mg / dL forchildren.

However, the above result does not necessarily indicate normal renal disease. Urea results can be high due to dehydration, heart failure, trauma, internal bleeding, malnutrition.

If you are in renal failure and dialysis, may also be required to submit to test blood urea nitrogen to determine if you are getting the right amount of dialysis. A low score may indicate that you are not getting enough protein, a common complication in stage 5 or end-stagerenal failure. You can also indicate that it is too hydrated or liver failure.

Urea nitrogen levels in the blood tend to rise when you are older, so age is also taken into account in assessing the results. So the sex, men tend to have higher than women.

How to prepare for the test of urea

The test involves taking a blood sample from a vein in your arm. Usually can be done without fasting, but your doctor mayDo not eat high protein, first for 24 hours before the test.

If you are taking medications you should inform your doctor as you may interfere with test results. For example, corticosteroids, diuretics and some blood pressure medications may increase the levels of urea nitrogen, and antibiotics such as streptomycin can decrease.

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