Couple of things might happen. In the beginning stages, you might put out lots of very dilute urine as your kidneys lose the ability to concentrate urine (other things can cause this , so it’s not definitive). You might put out less and less urine, with objects called ‘casts’ that we can see on the microscope, that are caused by slow flow inside the kidneys (other things can cause this as well, so it’s also not definitive). As it gets worse, your blood chemistries will start to get out of whack, specifically creatinine and electrolytes. If your doctor is looking for kidney failure, one of the things he or she might order is a a blood chemistry panel with an estimated GFR, or glomerular filtration rate; another is a creatinine clearance test, where you collect all of your urine for 24 hours, measure the average creatinine level of your urine over that time, and compare it to the creatinine level in your blood to see if the kidneys are filtering out as much creatinine as they should be.
One kidney, by itself, can do a fine job for you if it’s fully functioning.
medlabunicorn t1_j9qen68 wrote
Reply to How can Doctors tell if one of your kidneys isn't working? by FineLetMeSayIt
Couple of things might happen. In the beginning stages, you might put out lots of very dilute urine as your kidneys lose the ability to concentrate urine (other things can cause this , so it’s not definitive). You might put out less and less urine, with objects called ‘casts’ that we can see on the microscope, that are caused by slow flow inside the kidneys (other things can cause this as well, so it’s also not definitive). As it gets worse, your blood chemistries will start to get out of whack, specifically creatinine and electrolytes. If your doctor is looking for kidney failure, one of the things he or she might order is a a blood chemistry panel with an estimated GFR, or glomerular filtration rate; another is a creatinine clearance test, where you collect all of your urine for 24 hours, measure the average creatinine level of your urine over that time, and compare it to the creatinine level in your blood to see if the kidneys are filtering out as much creatinine as they should be.
One kidney, by itself, can do a fine job for you if it’s fully functioning.