A Lite Look at Your Kidney Function (And Why It Matters!) by Timothy McNamara, MD, MPH

(For the algebraically-challenged and for anyone wanting help in calculating the results of these complicated equations, please visit this creatinine clearance calculator: www.medicationadvisor.com/creatinine/creatinine.asp.)

Now once you run this a few times, you’ll find that creatinine clearance for young healthy people is about 100 ml/min (we’ll just leave off the “ml/min” part from now on).

And, dead people have a creatinine clearance of about 0, depending on how healthy they are.

Everyone else falls somewhere in between.

(Now someone in the back of the room is saying, “I just ran this on myself and I have a creatinine clearance of 150”. Well aren’t you special? In fact, young good-looking people can have creatinine clearances of 130, 140, or more…but it doesn’t do a whole lot of good since 100 is perfectly acceptable. In fact, it’s just another case of overachiever overkill.)

Now, if someone has a creatinine clearance of 80, that means that they have about…..80% kidney function.

And, if someone has a creatinine clearance of 50, that means that they have about…..50% kidney function.

(Are you following all of this?)

Many drugs that are eliminated by the kidney will require moderate dosage reductions once a patient’s renal function is in the 40-60 range.

Patients in the 20-40 range will typically require very large reductions in dose.

And, patients who are in the “less than 20” range will often need HUGE dosage reductions for medications eliminated by the kidney (or better yet, they’ll need to take medications that are removed by some other organ altogether...if such an alternative is available).

One last tidbit to consider. Renal function declines as people age. No getting around that. But, the rate of decline is different for different people. By the time you’re 50 years old, there is a reasonable chance you’ll have moderate renal function (or worse)…by the time you’re 80, you’ll almost certainly have some important degree of renal impairment…and you probably won’t even know it or feel it.

Now that you know more renal physiology than you ever, EVER wanted to know…let’s get back to the main thread of this article…medication safety.

If you (or a loved one) are at risk for having decreased kidney function (and I’ll tell you who such folks are in just a second), you need to step up to the plate and get a handle on this issue (because there is a very good chance that your physician and pharmacist either didn’t have renal function data or didn’t consider it when coming up with a dosage for you).

Here are the steps I recommend for everyone taking prescription or over-the-counter medications:

1)For everyone: If you have access to the results of a recent serum creatinine test (it is probably part of your annual physical and you may have gotten a copy), memorize it or write it down and then say to your physician or pharmacist when you get a medication, “Say, I think my serum creatinine is about X. So, does this medication need any dosage adjustment in order to be safe for me?

2)If you are in one of the following categories, you should expect your physician and pharmacist to have considered your renal function before dosing a medication:

known kidney disease;

age greater than 50;

history or heart attack, angina, stroke, or other artery blockages;

history of diabetes (any type);

history of high blood pressure;

prior exposure to chemotherapy drugs;

prior prolonged exposure to IV antibiotics;

frequent use of pain medications (especially non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, but others as well).

So you might say to your physician or pharmacist, “Is this drug removed by the kidney, because I have condition X that could decrease kidney function and I just want to be safe.” If the drug is removed by the kidney, you might also ask the physician or pharmacist to tell you what your serum creatinine is…and if he or she does not have this information, a big red flag should be going up in your head.

3)If you are not in one of the categories in question 2 and you don’t have a serum creatinine available, don’t worry. You’re probably safe. But you may want to ask your physician if there is a serum creatinine in your chart and if so, what it is.

4)If you are on dialysis of any sort, serum creatinine is not all that useful for dosing medications. Just make sure your physician and pharmacist are aware that you are on dialysis and perhaps ask, “Now is this the usual dose for someone on dialysis?”

These are some of the steps I hope you will consider the next time you get a prescription or over-the-counter medication so you can be sure that that you (or your loved one) are getting the right dose.

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BIO:

Timothy McNamara, MD, MPH is a nationally prominent expert in medication safety and healthcare technology. For additional practical steps you can take to improve medication safety and a personalized report of your medication profile, go to: http://www.medicationadvisor.com/art2.asp.

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