Early detection of kidney failure

Early renal failure is a serious condition that has been difficult to detect in the past. A new method now makes it possible to test for an early stage of the disease. The approach combines two commonly used tests – the measurement of creatinine in the blood and protein in urine. High levels of creatinine show that the kidney is doing a poor job of cleansing the blood, and means that the patient already has some level of kidney disease. High levels of protein in the urine mean that the disease is developing rapidly.

The method has also proved effective in assessing the future risk of cardiovascular disease. This often goes hand in hand with chronic kidney disease and should always be evaluated with a combination of blood and urine tests. The method was developed by a team of scientists at NTNU.