By Vytas K. Kerpe, MD More than 300,000 Americans suffer from chronic kidney disease. Unfortunately, kidney disease is a silent disease, and many people are not aware they are losing kidney function until their condition is quite advanced.
People have two kidneys.
The kidneys remove waste products from the blood and excrete them through urine. When kidney function is reduced, the kidneys are not as effective at removing these waste products as they should be. Creatinine is one of the waste products removed by the kidneys. If kidney function is reduced, an individual's creatinine level rises. Therefore, a creatinine level blood test is often part of a regular physical.