Protein In Urine Levels Chart

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Why The Test Is Performed

Urinalysis Explained

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.

How Do I Take Care Of Myself

The best way to take care of yourself is to take your medications as prescribed by your healthcare provider.

Other ways to help take care of yourself include:

  • Eating less protein.
  • Limiting your salt intake, which can lower your blood pressure.
  • Eating more fiber, which can help reduce cholesterol and control blood sugar.
  • Exercising or moving regularly. Aim for at least two hours of activity every week.
  • Regularly checking your blood sugar.
  • Quitting smoking and tobacco use.
  • Avoiding nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs unless recommended by your healthcare provider. The most common NSAIDs include aspirin , ibuprofen and naproxen .

What Do The Test Results Mean

Test results should be available after a couple of days, depending on the lab schedule. A normal test result shows less than 150 milligrams of protein per day. Test results may vary slightly between laboratories. Ask your doctor about the exact meaning of your test results.

Protein in the urine may signify kidney damage or disease. Protein levels may also rise temporarily due to factors such as infection, stress, or excess exercise.

If the protein is caused by kidney damage, the test results will help to determine the extent of that damage. The protein amount can also be used to monitor any disease progression or measure your response to therapy.

Proteinuria is associated with many other conditions. These include:

  • amyloidosis, an abnormal presence of amyloid proteins in organs and tissues

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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.

When Is It Ordered

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A dipstick urine protein is measured frequently as a screening test whenever a urinalysis is performed. This may be done as part of a routine physical, a pregnancy workup, when a urinary tract infection is suspected, as part of a hospital admission, or whenever a healthcare practitioner wants to evaluate kidney function. Repeat testing may also be done when a previous dipstick has been positive for protein to see if the protein persists.

Specifically for monitoring people with possible kidney dysfunction, the National Kidney Foundation has established a 5-step plan for chronic kidney disease evaluation and referral using random urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio , rather than random UPCR, to screen for and determine the prognosis of CKD, for urine protein is more difficult to standardize.

A 24-hour urine protein may be ordered as a follow-up test, especially in pregnant women with a high pre-screen risk of preeclampsia, when the dipstick test shows that there is a large quantity of protein present in the urine or when protein is shown to be persistently present.

Since the dipstick primarily measures albumin, the health care practitioner may order a 24-hour urine protein test even when there is little protein detected on the dipstick if the practitioner suspects that there may be proteins other than albumin being released.

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Protein In Urine Levels Chart

Proteinuria is the presence of extra proteins within the urine. In wholesome individuals, urine incorporates little or no protein an extra is suggestive of sickness. Extra protein within the urine usually causes the urine to develop into foamy . Extreme proteinurina could cause nephrotic syndrome in which theres worsening swelling of the physique.

Increased Protein In Urine

Increased urine protein levels are a non-specific finding seen with a wide variety of medical conditions, ranging from totally harmless to potentially life-threatening 2. Common causes for proteinuria include kidney disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, drugs, infections and tumors such as multiple myeloma.cause:

  • Common causes for proteinuria include kidney disease
  • high blood pressure
  • tumors such as multiple myeloma

Increased amounts of protein in the urine are never considered normal 2. However, mild proteinuria doesnt always indicate a serious disorder. Additional testing and evaluation by your health-care provider is necessary to make this determination.

  • Increased urine protein levels are a non-specific finding seen with a wide variety of medical conditions, ranging from totally harmless to potentially life-threatening 2.

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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.

When To Get Tested

Urine Protein Test

As part of a routine physical, often as part of a urinalysis urine total protein and urine protein to creatinine ratio have traditionally been used as important indicators of kidney disease and as a follow-up testing for monitoring the disease. However, albumin to creatinine ratio is now the preferred testing for these purposes.

UPCR should still be requested to identify preeclampsia in pregnant women and where the excess urine total protein is suspected to be other than albumin.

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What Is Normal Amount Of Protein In Urine

Your kidneys continuously filter your blood, excreting waste products while holding back proteins and other important molecules. Healthy kidneys normally allow almost no protein to be lost in the urine 2. Although protein in the urine, or proteinuria, is an important marker of disease, there are benign causes of proteinuria, as well 2.

Albuminuria: The Urine Albumin: Creatinine Ratio

A simple urine test called the urine Albumin:Creatinine ratio is also performed to look for signs that protein is leaking into the urine . This is an important sign of kidney damage. The ACR is used to calculate the A stage of CKD .

There are three recognised stages of albuminuria:

  • A1 normal to mildly increased urine protein levels
  • A2 moderately increased urine protein levels
  • A3 severely increased urine protein levels

Combining your ACR ratio with your eGFR can help doctors try to predict whether your kidney disease is likely to progress and whether you are more likely to develop complications such as heart and circulatory problems. Other factors are also taken into account, e.g. age. In general, the higher the A stage, the more likely it is that you will benefit from blood pressure-lowering treatment.

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Does Kidney Damage Go Away

In general, it does not. The goal is to detect kidney disease and damage early to minimize the damage and prolong kidney function. If the proteinuria detected is due to a kidney infection or urinary tract infection, the kidneys frequently will return to normal function as the infection resolves. If it is due to a medication, then in most cases the kidneys are likely to return to normal or near-normal function when the medication is stopped.

Protein In Urine Levels & Types Of Proteinuria

Table 2 from Day

Urine and its composition are important in a number of medical diagnostic procedures. Proteins are found in urine at varying levels. A protein in urine normal range is used as a standard against which all results are compared. The level of proteins in urine may temporarily rise due to diet, physical exertion and disease. Presence of unusually high levels of protein in urine is called Proteinuria or Albuminuria.

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How Do I Prepare For This Test

Your doctor will tell you how to prepare for the test. You may have to stop taking certain medications that can interfere with the test results. Tell your doctor about any and all supplements, prescription, and over-the-counter medications that youre taking.

Other factors can also interfere with test results. These may include how much muscle mass a person has. For example, if a person is very ill, they may not make as much of the muscle protein creatinine. On the other hand, if a person has been bodybuilding and increased their muscle mass, that can also affect the results.

Sometimes vigorous exercise alone can increase the amount of protein a person makes and spills into the urine on a given day.

What Are The Signs Of Micro

In its early stages, there may be no noticeable signs or symptoms. As kidney function declines and large amounts of proteins are passing into the urine, swelling of the hands, feet, abdomen and face may occur. If albuminuria progresses, it may result in permanent kidney damage. In some patients, it might result in the need for dialysis or a kidney transplant. With or without symptoms, the only way to find out how much protein is passing into the urine is to test it.

Micro-albuminuria is linked with cardiovascular disease. Damaged blood vessels can lead to stroke and heart failure in addition to kidney disease.

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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.

What Accompanying Symptoms Are Particularly Worrisome

Urinalysis – OSCE Guide

There are additional signs youll want to watch that indicate the cause of protein in your urine may be more serious.

Symptoms of preeclampsia include:

  • shortness of breath
  • lowered urine output

And while its normal to gain weight during pregnancy, be sure to alert your doctor if you experience sudden weight gain. A gain of more than a few pounds in a week or significant swelling in the hands or face are other potential warning signs.

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When To See A Healthcare Provider

It can be difficult to know when it’s time to see a healthcare provider about proteinuria because the symptoms are often so vague . Even if you have foamy urine, you might figure that it was “something you ate” if you are otherwise feeling healthy.

And, that can be a problem. Because not only is proteinuria an indication that you may have kidney disease, it is often a sign that kidney disease is advancing and becoming more serious.

To this end, you need to seek immediate medical care if you experience the following:

  • Gradually diminishing urine output
  • Swelling of the legs, ankles, or feet
  • Extreme tiredness or weakness
  • Irregular heartbeat

These are common signs of kidney failure, a condition in which the kidney function has dropped so severely that you may require hospitalization to avoid illness or death.

This is especially true if the symptoms develop over the span of several hours or days. Without treatment, kidney failure is associated with a high risk of death.

What Is The Difference Between Proteinuria And Transient Proteinuria

Transient proteinuria is temporary. Causes typically include intense exercise, stress, fever and prolonged exposure to cold temperatures. Transient proteinuria usually goes away on its own.

A note from Cleveland Clinic

Proteinuria is high levels of protein in your pee. If you have proteinuria, you may have to pee more often, and your pee may be foamy or bubbly. You may have general feelings of illness, including nausea, vomiting, tiredness and swelling. If you have any of these symptoms for more than a few days, its a good idea to reach out to your healthcare provider. They can help you diagnose a condition thats causing your proteinuria and prescribe treatments that help keep your kidneys healthy.

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What Happens When Kidney Disease Or Another Condition Is Suspected

If your healthcare provider suspects you have kidney disease, youll repeat a urine test three times over three months. If your urine samples test positive for the presence of proteins each time, you likely have a chronic disease. The earlier the diagnosis, the greater the chance your healthcare providers can slow kidney disease and stop it from progressing.

Additional tests may include:

Kidney Numbers And Ckd Heat Map

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Watch a series of short, animated videos that will help you learn about the importance of knowing your kidney numbers, how the heat map works for identifying where you are in terms of kidney health and along with some tips for improving your kidney numbers and moving in the right direction on the heat map.

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How Is The Test Given

The test doesnt require anything other than normal urination. There are no risks involved.

The test may be performed at home or in the hospital. Generally, youll be given one or more containers to collect and store your urine over a 24-hour period.

Usually, youll start in the morning. You wont save the urine during that first trip to the bathroom. Instead, flush and begin keeping track of time. You will collect the rest of your urine for the next 24 hours.

Store your urine from the 24-hour time period in a cool environment. It can be kept in the refrigerator or on ice in a cooler.

Label the container with your name, date, and time of collection. After 24 hours of urine collection, the samples must be taken to a lab for analysis. If youre at home, your healthcare provider will tell you how to transport the urine.

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.

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What Does The Test Result Mean

A negative test result means that there is no detectable amount of protein in the urine at the time of testing.

Protein detected in a random urine sample may be temporary due to an infection, medication, vigorous exercise, pregnancy, diet, cold exposure, or emotional or physical stress. Testing should be repeated after these conditions have resolved.

Protein in the urine can also be a warning sign of a serious condition and usually warrants further investigation. Typically, three positive urine samples over a period of time without other significant symptoms will often be followed up with additional tests, including a 24-hour urine.

Persistent and/or an increased amount of protein in the urine may indicate kidney damage or disease. With kidney disease, the amount of protein present is generally associated with the severity of the damage. Increasing amounts of protein over time indicate increasing damage and decreasing kidney function. The most common cause of protein in the urine is kidney damage resulting from:

  • Diabetes proteinuria is one of the first signs of deteriorating kidney function in people with type 1 and 2 diabetes.
  • High blood pressure proteinuria in someone with high blood pressure is also a first sign of declining kidney function.

Proteinuria may also be seen with many other diseases and conditions. A healthcare practitioner may order other tests and take into account those results to help determine the cause. Some examples of these causes include:

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