What is Creatinine and What Does it Mean if Your Creatinine is High

Many tests may be performed to evaluate the function of the body’s major organs if people have discomforts. If the blood or urine tests show that the serum creatinine is high, it means that there are some problems of your kidneys.

Creatinine is a chemical waste molecule that is produced from muscle metabolism. It is filtered from the body by the kidneys in the process of urination. The creatinine levels in the body are important determinants of kidney function. Unusually, high creatinine levels may have a drastic effect on the kidneys and may even lead to kidney failure, because not enough creatinine is being excreted by the kidneys.

The normal range of serum creatinine for male is 53～106 umol/l (0.6～1.2mg/dl); and for female is 44～97 umol/l(0.5～1.1 mg/dl).
What does the test result mean?

Increased creatinine levels in the blood suggest diseases or conditions that affect kidney function. These can include:
Damage to or swelling of blood vessels in the kidneys caused by infection or autoimmune diseases etc.
Bacterial infection of the kidneys (pyelonephritis)
Death of cells in the kidneys’ small tubes (acute tubular necrosis) caused, for example, by drugs or toxins
Prostate disease, kidney stone, or other causes of urinary tract obstruction
Reduced blood flow to the kidney due to shock, dehydration, congestive heart failure, atherosclerosis, or complications of diabetes
High blood creatinine is usually a sign of problems with kidney functions.
Serum creatinine is also the major component in the various equations used to estimate GFR, and as a patient, it is what you will use most in tracking how your kidney function is doing.