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Nadine
06-03-2008, 04:53 AM
I am confused about some blood tests I had and since you guys are a wealth of information on all things medical, I hope you don't mind me asking your opinion.....here goes.

Last week I had some blood tests because my sister has been diagnoised with an auto-immune disorder and they wanted to check mine. So they got just about everything checked. I rang this morning and was told the test results were all normal, but being a cynical patient, I went down and got a copy of the results.

I noticed that some results were highlighted as being abnormal - I think they relate to my kidney function. What disturbs me is that there are also old results attached and the same abnormal results were found as long as 3 years ago. I have a Creatine result of 100 umol/L. It says normal is 40-80. And I have a eGFR of 72, and it says normal is greater than 89. These have both been abnormal for several years. I also have a triglyceride level of 3.25 (normal 0.5-2.0), but again they told me it was nothing to worry about.

I don't know anything about this stuff, and I don't want to search the Internet for fear of freaking myself out.....so should I take my drs word for it and not worry, or go get another opinion? Is there any link between heart failure and kidney failure? I wouldn't have thought I'd be high risk as my EF is now 40% so pretty good these days. I know high triglycerides are not good, but no one has ever told me to do anything about it, except to say I need to lose 10kg and do more exercise (yeah right, do they know how exhausting it is to have two small children and heart failure?? Exercise for me is functioning all day and maybe a short walk to the shops!)

I think I need to go on a health kick (no s#*&* Sherlock!) but any advice would be appreciated, thanks!

Nadine

JAMESFETT
06-03-2008, 08:49 AM
Kidney function can certainly be affected by severe heart failure (decreased blood flow to kidneys), by toxemia (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia) of pregnancy, and by certain autoimmune diseases. Your kidney function tests are mild to moderately lower than expected for your age, so it is worth exploring that further with your physicians.

Triglyceride levels need to be determined after a 12-hour fast, at least, because food intake will send the levels soaring, and you want to know your base-line fasting level. You may need a re-test, but again, good to discuss with your physicians.

JD

SerenaWelsh
06-03-2008, 08:59 AM
Dr. Fett, I've had a question about just this sort of thing for quite a while...
Why are triglycerides (and other tests) determined after a 12 hour fast?
It is not the normal state for humans (in this country) to be walking around without food for 12 hours...so those test results are never indicative of our day to day life....

JAMESFETT
06-03-2008, 11:00 AM
Because triglycerides in food give an abnormal distortion of the actual base level that influences cardiovascular disease by deposition in arteries.

JD