Which Circumstances May Interfere With The Results
The protein urine test may cause false-positive readings in case of:
- Highly pigmented urine
- Contamination of the sample with detergents
- Contamination of the sample with antiseptics
- High specific gravity
The protein urine test may cause false-negative readings in case of a high presence of proteins different of albumin, as previously mentioned, or in case of microalbuminuria.
Medically reviewed by our Medical staff on 30-11-2021
How Can I Slow The Damage To My Kidneys
Damage to your kidneys cannot be reversed, but you can keep it from getting worse. By following your treatment plan and making healthy life changes, you can help keep your kidneys working for as long as possible.
Take these steps to slow the damage to your kidneys:
- Work with your doctor to manage diabetes and high blood pressure.
- Take all of your prescription medicines as your doctor tells you.
- Have visits with a kidney doctor to check your blood levels and overall health.
- Follow a kidney-friendly eating plan. A dietitian can help you make a plan that works for you.
- Be active for 30 minutes most days of the week.
- Drink less alcohol. The healthy guidelines for drinking alcohol are:
- For men: No more than two drinks per day
- For women: No more than one drink per day
What Does High Protein In Urine Mean
The condition wherein greater than normal amounts of protein are present in the urine is referred to as proteinuria. Read on to know the causes, symptoms and effects of too much protein in urine…
The condition wherein greater than normal amounts of protein are present in the urine is referred to as proteinuria. Read on to know the causes, symptoms and effects of too much protein in urine
Protein is essential for the growth and functioning of the body, and muscle building. Protein molecules are comparatively larger and hence cannot pass through the glomeruli in the kidneys. They are thus retained in the blood when waste materials and toxic substances are filtered by the kidneys. Then how does protein appear in urine? What does high protein in urine mean? Here is an overview of the condition called proteinuria.
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What Causes Protein In The Urine
Healthy kidneys remove extra fluid and waste from your blood and transform it into urine. Healthy kidneys do not remove proteins and other important nutrients, which pass through and return to your blood. But when your kidneys are damaged, they may let this protein leak into your urine. This causes high levels of protein in your urine.
Anyone can have protein in their urine. You may be more likely to have protein in your urine if you have one or more of the risk factors for kidney disease. There are health problems that can cause long-lasting protein in the urine, and some that can cause short-term protein in the urine.
Protein In Urine Normal Range
The protein in urine normal range is calculated in milligrams per deciliter. Protein in urine normal range is set at 20 mg/dL as the upper limit. The sample for urinalysis is collected randomly or at a time agreed on with your doctor. For better diagnostics, a doctor may order samples to be collected over a period of a day for the 24-hour proteinuria test. The 24 hour urine protein normal range is 80mg/dl in the lower limit.
From random samples and simple testing, it is possible to tell if there are proteins in urine. Though it does not give accurate measurements of the levels of each protein type, the protein in urine 1+ reporting system for proteinuria tests is still in wide use.
There are two tests for identifying proteinuria. They are the 24-hour urine test and the Spot urinalysis. One collects samples over a period of 24 hours while the other utilizes a randomly collected sample. If a randomly collected sample shows a problem with the levels of protein in your urine, your doctor may want you to have the 24-hour urine test.
Results from testing for proteinuria are classified into 24-hour urine analysis results and spot urine results. A further reading centred on the ration of albumin to creatinine is made from analyzing your urine in the laboratory. The 24 hour urine protein creatinine ratio must not exceed 0.15.
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The Best And Worse Foods To Eat In A Type 2 Diabetes Diet
Diabetes and hypertension are the top causes of kidney disease, so if you have these conditions, your treatment will include getting these under control. For diabetics, this can include managing blood sugar, taking medication, eating healthy, and exercising.
For people with hypertension, doctors may recommend medication as well as diet and lifestyle changes. People with hypertension and proteinuria are also advised that they should keep their blood pressure below 130/80 millimeters of mercury .
People with diabetes and kidney disease or hypertension and kidney disease are often prescribed medications, including angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers . These medications may also be prescribed to people with kidney disease who do not have diabetes or hypertension.
If kidney damage is permanent, patients may also require dialysis or a kidney transplant.
How Is Proteinuria In Children Diagnosed
Because you cant see protein in your childs urine, it must be diagnosed with a urine test. For this test, a sample of your childs urine will be collected and sent to a lab for diagnosis.
After the first test, your doctor may want to recheck your childs urine for protein. Thats because the protein will often go away on its own . If the protein is still high on the second test, your doctor may ask you to collect a 24-hour urine sample from your child. This lets your doctor measure the amount of protein in the urine more accurately.
Your doctor may test your childs blood. He or she may also order an ultrasound or CT scan. These two procedures take pictures of your childs kidneys and surrounding area to look for problems. These procedures arent painful.
To diagnose orthostatic proteinuria, your childs doctor will check 2 urine samples. The first is collected in the morning, right after your child gets up. The second sample is collected throughout the day. The samples are kept in separate containers. If your child has orthostatic proteinuria, the morning sample wont have protein in it. But the urine collected during the day will have protein in it.
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How Long Will I Have To Wait For A Transplant If I Need One
The process of getting listed for a kidney transplant often begins after you your evaluation. The average wait time for a kidney from a deceased donor is three to five years. If you have a donor who is willing and able to give you a kidney, you can have your transplant as soon as both you and your donor are ready. Learn more about the kidney transplant waiting list and what you can do while you wait.
Are There Tests To Diagnose The Cause Of Proteinuria
Proteinuria itself can be diagnosed with a simple dipstick test. This involves dipping a specially treated paper strip into a sample of urine. Results are returned within one to two minutes.
To measure the exact amount of protein excreted in the urine, your healthcare provider may recommend a 24-hour urine collection test. By evaluating the composition of urine collected over 24 hours , the lab can calculate how much protein is passed each day.
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How To Lower Protein Levels In Urine
The doctor determines the course of treatment after knowing the exact cause of excess protein in urine. If you have hypertension or diabetes, you should take proper precautions to maintain normal blood sugar levels and normal blood pressure levels. Balanced diet and regular exercise play an important role in stabilizing blood sugar and blood pressure levels.
To fight kidney or urinary tract infection, your doctor may prescribe antibiotics. You should follow the instructions of the doctor religiously. Prompt medication, fruitful change in the lifestyle can help improve kidney function. Restricting dietary salt and protein helps lower the levels of protein in urine.
Excessive loss of protein through urine indicates kidney diseases and if not controlled promptly, may lead to life-threatening conditions. One should not hesitate for regular checkups as they help detect a health problem at an early stage.
How Do I Know If I Have Protein In My Urine
You can have a simple urine test. This is part of a routine exam. You will be asked to pee into a clean cup called a specimen cup. Only a small amount of your urine is needed to do the test. Some of the urine is tested right away with a dipstick a thin, plastic strip that is placed in the urine. The rest is looked at under a microscope and sent to a laboratory, where a test called an ACR is done. An ACR shows whether you have albumin in your urine. A normal amount of albumin in your urine is less than 30 mg/g. Anything above 30 mg/g may mean you have kidney disease, even if your GFR number is above 60.
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How Does The Test Work
In the past, checking protein levels in urine was done with an in-office dipstick test. But that test wasn’t sensitive enough, as it couldn’t tell you exactly how much protein was there, just a range from low to high. It was also vulnerable to the daily fluctuations in your protein levels. Today, Dr. Abernathy says that when she has concerns about a patient’s blood pressure she prefers to test the ratio of protein-to-creatinine in their urine, and also conduct blood tests to check their liver function. If the protein-to-creatinine ratio comes back high, then she turns to the gold standard: a 24-hour urine collection test. .
How Does Diabetes Cause Kidney Disease
High blood sugar from diabetes damages the group of tiny blood vessels in your kidneys called glomeruli. These blood vessels clean your blood. When the glomeruli are damaged, they cannot filter out waste from your blood. Over time, this causes kidney disease. Kidney disease caused by diabetes is also called diabetic kidney disease or diabetic nephropathy.
If you have diabetes, you are more likely to get kidney disease if you:
- Have had diabetes for a long time
- Often have high blood sugar levels
- Have high blood pressure or heart disease
- Have a family history of kidney disease
- Do not follow your diabetes eating plan every day, exactly as it says
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What Does A Positive Result Mean
When protein in urine is above 30 mg/dL the test is considered positive.
Some dipsticks or labs report the trace readings in terms of negative, 1+, 2+, 3+, and 4+ or the semiquantitative values of 30, 100, 300, or 2000 mg/dL corresponding to each color change. The interpretation of trace readings can be difficult sometimes. To sum it up:
- + corresponds to more than 30 mg/dl
- ++ corresponds to more than 100 mg/dl
- +++ corresponds to more than 300 mg/dl
- ++++ corresponds to more than 2000 mg/dl
A positive result for protein in a routine analysis does not always indicate kidney damage. The positive require additional testing to determine whether the protein represents a normal or a pathologic condition. Benign proteinuria is usually transient and can be produced by conditions such as:
- Strenuous exercise
- Orthostatic or postural proteinuria
When the positive in the protein urine test is due to a pathologic condition, the main causes are:
- Kidney disease
Can Kidney Disease Cause Diabetes
Recent research has found that kidney disease may cause high blood sugar and diabetes. When you have kidney disease, your kidneys cannot filter waste products from your blood as well as they should. This can cause diabetes because high blood levels of the waste product urea can prevent your pancreas from making insulin the way it should. Urea is a waste product that your body makes after it breaks down protein.
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Detecting And Quantifying Proteinuria
Dipstick analysis is used in most outpatient settings to semiquantitatively measure the urine protein concentration. In the absence of protein, the dipstick panel is yellow. Proteins in solution interfere with the dye-buffer combination, causing the panel to turn green. False-positive results occur with alkaline urine when the dipstick is immersed too long with highly concentrated urine with gross hematuria in the presence of penicillin, sulfonamides or tolbutamide and with pus, semen or vaginal secretions. False-negative results occur with dilute urine and when the urinary proteins are nonalbumin or low molecular weight.
The results are graded as negative , trace , 1+ , 2+ , 3+ or 4+ . This method preferentially detects albumin and is less sensitive to globulins or parts of globulins .12
The sulfosalicylic acid turbidity test qualitatively screens for proteinuria. The advantage of this easily performed test is its greater sensitivity for proteins such as Bence Jones. The SSA method requires a few milliliters of freshly voided, centrifuged urine. An equal amount of 3 percent SSA is added to that specimen. Turbidity will result from protein concentrations as low as 4 mg per dL . False-positive results can occur when a patient is taking penicillin or sulfonamides and within three days after the administration of radiographic dyes. A false-negative result occurs with highly buffered alkaline urine or a dilute specimen.
Protein In Urine Treatment
Proteinuria a sign of another illness. So treatment depends on figuring out what caused it. You might not need treatment if proteinuria is mild or lasts only a short time. But itâs crucial to treat kidney disease before it leads to kidney failure.
Your doctor might prescribe medication, especially if you have diabetes and/or high blood pressure. Most people will take one of two types of blood pressure medicine:
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Why The Test Is Performed
This test is most often done when your provider suspects you have kidney disease. It may also be used as a screening test for kidney disease, for example in people with diabetes.
Although small amounts of protein are normally in urine, a routine dipstick test may not detect them. A urine microalbumin test can be performed to detect small amounts of albumin in the urine that may not be detected on dipstick testing. If the kidney is diseased, proteins may be detected on a dipstick test, even if blood protein levels are normal.
Advice From Patients And Professionals
Elle Lee, LCSW began her career as a licensed therapist after experiencing kidney failure from IgA Nephropathy in 2009. While on peritoneal dialysis, she experienced worries, stress, and emotional struggles that are common among people with kidney failure, which motivated her to become a therapist to help people cope better.
Elle joins AKF to share tips on how people living with kidney disease can better safeguard their mental health.
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Whats Wrong With Having Albumin In My Urine
One of the main jobs of your kidneys is to filter your blood. Your kidneys keep important things your body needs inside your blood, like protein. They also remove things your body doesnt need, like waste products and extra water.
If kidneys are healthy, you should have very little protein in your urine or even none. But if your kidneys are damaged, protein can leak out of the kidneys into your urine.
Normal Protein Levels In Urine
Normally, negligible amount of protein is present in urine. Read on to know the causes of high protein in urine. The article also explains how to lower protein in urine. Scroll down.
Normally, negligible amount of protein is present in urine. Read on to know the causes of high protein in urine. The article also explains how to lower protein in urine. Scroll down.
To measure the amount of protein in urine, a random sample and/or a 24-hour urine sample is used. The test that helps measure the protein content of urine is known as dipstick test. Presence of a protein like albumin in urine mainly indicates kidney problem. This condition is known as proteinuria or albuminuria or urine albumin. Albumin is actually abundantly present in blood. Proteins, the building blocks of the body are necessary to strengthen the cellular function, muscles, bones, hair and nails. Proteins strengthen the immune system and help keep away diseases. Losing protein through urine can lead to several health complications.
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Is There A Way To Prevent Protein In The Urine During Pregnancy
Since protein in the urine in early pregnancy is associated with preexisting conditions, some of which are genetic, you cant necessarily do anything for prevention. Theres no current evidence to suggest anything clear-cut that will prevent preeclampsia.
However, its always a good idea to take certain preventative measures before becoming pregnant, especially if you have preexisting conditions. Check in with your doctor about what a healthy weight is for you, try to maintain a diet with plenty of lean protein and vegetables, and make sure your blood pressure is well managed.
And if youre already pregnant, doctors do suggest a couple of methods to potentially lower your risk of developing preeclampsia:
- Taking low-dose aspirin if you have a history of preeclampsia, pregnancy with multiples, chronic high blood pressure, or other health issues, like kidney disease or diabetes. The recommended dosage is 81 milligrams starting at week 12 in pregnancy. However, since aspirin is available over-the-counter, we do need to add: Dont do this without your doctors guidance.
- Taking calcium supplements if you have a calcium deficiency may also prevent preeclampsia. However, its rare in developed countries to have a deficiency severe enough for this method to provide a notable benefit.
Remember: If this is your first pregnancy, youre at a higher risk of developing preeclampsia. And you may be more likely to experience this complication if you had it in a previous pregnancy.