Is it possible to improve gfr

Glomerular filtration rate GFR is a measure your doctor can take of how well your kidneys are working. You can improve your GFR and your kidney function by looking at your lifestyle, diet, and medications, and making certain changes. They pull the water and nutrients you need from your blood, and send waste products, toxins, and extra fluid to the bladder to be released as urine. Keep reading to learn what you can do to improve your GFR and protect, or restore, your kidney health.

The glomerular filtration rate measurement comes from the name of the filtering units inside your kidneys, called the glomeruli. Glomeruli are complex structures made of tiny blood vessels called capillaries, along with protein mesh and layers of tissue that continuously filter your plasma.

Based on research , between your 2 kidneys, you have about 2 million glomeruli. But the measurement essentially takes into consideration your gender, age, body size, and your blood creatinine level. Creatinine is a waste product that your body creates as muscle breaks down. Everyone has some creatinine in their blood. Average levels range from:. These levels can vary.

For example, in a research review , creatinine levels fell by an average of 0. Because they can change with age and size, creatinine levels alone are not good indicators of kidney health. The GFR takes these other elements into account. Most GFR results simply provide you with a measurement of 60 or higher, since you can have stage 1 or 2 kidney disease, but still have normal kidney function.

This changes when your GFR drops below Under 60, you begin to have some loss in function. As you advance through the stages of kidney disease, you will notice more and more symptoms, and your treatments may need to become more intense. Hemodialysis is a treatment where an artificial kidney filters and circulates your blood when your kidneys can no longer do their job. However, with early diagnosis and careful management, you may be able to at least slow down the progression of your kidney disease.

In most cases, kidney disease is a chronic and gradually progressing disease. For most people with chronic disease, positive lifestyle changes may help slow the loss of kidney function. Some studies have shown that GFR may increase over time in people at all stages of kidney disease by:. Here are other things you can do to help reduce further damage to your kidneys.

A balanced diet can go a long way in protecting your kidneys. Some foods put more strain on the kidneys and are best avoided, especially if you have known kidney damage. It is often reported automatically when you do a creatinine blood test, as a part of your comprehensive metabolic panel CMP.

Read on to learn more about this marker, what it means when your values are outside of the normal range, and how you can increase your eGFR levels. Glomerular Filtration Rate GFR is the amount of blood filtered every minute by tiny filters in the kidneys called glomeruli.

Although it may sound complicated, in essence, it measures how well your kidneys are working [ 1 ]. The main job of our kidneys is to remove waste and excess water from the blood.

This excess water and waste become urine. Kidneys process about 50 gallons liters of blood every day to produce about 50 ounces 1. When the filtration rate decreases that means the kidneys are not working well and may mean there is kidney damage [ 2 ].

GFR is affected by many factors, such as [ 1 ]:. Instead, scientists have developed a formula to estimate the value indirectly. The most widely used eGFR equation was developed in the year and modified in Creatinine is a waste product created from the normal wear and tear of muscles.

Kidneys filter remove almost all of the creatinine from the blood. Because muscle mass changes little from day to day, creatinine production and disposal rates are fairly constant. When kidney filtration rate decreases, blood levels of creatinine increase.

Many laboratories will automatically report eGFR when creatinine is tested [ 3 ]. Why is eGFR a better measure of kidney function than creatinine, or other kidney-associated markers such as BUN blood urea nitrogen? Mainly, because it is more sensitive. Your total GFR is the sum of filtration of each one of these filters. This is a lot of nephrons, and we don't always need all of them, which is why healthy people can donate a kidney and still have normal kidney function, Dr.

Kramer says. In people with kidney disease, high blood pressure or poorly controlled diabetes, nephrons can become scarred, Dr. While what's done is done, eating a healthy diet can help prevent further GFR decline and scarring of nephrons, according to the NKF. One way to mitigate further GFR decline is by limiting processed meats from your diet, Dr. Kramer says, such as:.

Another food Dr. Kramer suggests limiting for GFR health is red meat and other animal proteins, as these are high in sulfur amino acids that must be excreted by your kidneys.

If you do eat meat, choose chicken and fish — and make sure your portion is no bigger than the size of your palm, she says.