Our kidneys perform at their best:
They constantly cleanse the blood, a little wine glass full every minute. Every day, approximately 1800 litres flow through the two filter organs. But how do we know whether our kidneys are functioning reliably?
The kidney is a "silent" organ that does not directly show itself through pain or clear symptoms when something is not working. This is why kidney diseases are often discovered late, and dialysis is often the last stop. Measurements of blood values are the basis for calculating the filtration rate. Infections, chronic damage or signs of tumours can be detected in urine. During the preventive medical checkups for all women and men over 35, the protein content in the urine is also measured to check the functionality of the kidneys. In addition, there are other, even more precise test procedures for your kidney health, which we present here. You will find all our tests in our list of analyses.
Urinary tract infections
Do you have the feeling that you have to go to the toilet unusually often? And urinating burns? These are typical symptoms of infections of the bladder (cystitis) and urethra (urethritis). Various tests are available to find out which pathogens cause the problems:
- Urine status
- Urine sediment
- Urine Culture
- Pathogen detection or urogenital smear by PCR
Renal function
The "filtration capacity" of the kidney is also called glomerular filtration rate (GFR). Various laboratory tests can be used to check kidney function:
Cystatin C: The concentration of the protein in the blood depends on the functioning of the kidney. This value rises even with the slightest malfunction of the kidney.
Microalbumin test: Measures a certain protein (albumin) in the urine, which belongs to the smaller proteins and can therefore be detected even with slight filter damage.
Creatinine: The breakdown product of muscle metabolism is excreted via the kidneys. If this no longer functions properly, we find an increased creatinine concentration in the blood - but only when the kidneys are only half as efficient as before.