How do my Kidney's Look?

Understand Your Blood Work

Your kidneys are called a vital organ for a reason: they’re vital to your survival.

The kidneys filter the blood of toxins and metabolites, regulate blood pressure, and regulate electrolytes. They are one of the most well perfused organs in the body, receiving nearly 1/4 of all the blood pumped from the heart.

For that reason, monitoring renal function is important. If you can catch renal damage early you stand a better chance of avoiding chronic renal disease or dialysis.

Most of the time this is done by checking the creatinine and BUN in the blood. These are the most common markers we use to determine how well your kidney is functioning.

But, should that be the case? I would argue these are a fine marker of kidney health as long as you view them in the appropriate context.