albumin/creatinine ratio

[Mark T]

My GP surgery nurse phoned me up the other day to nag me a little.

One of the things she mentioned was that I hadn't had a albumin/creatinine ratio (acr) test in the last year and a bit.

Most of my testing is still being done by my local hospital consultant as I'm still under them. But she is quite correct, they don't do the acr test.

They do perform blood tests for creatine and urine dipstick tests.

So...

Why would my consultant not do the test, but my GP think it is vitally important? Answers on a postcard... 😉

(Yes, I will be asking the consultant when I next see him, but likely his answer will be, your levels are so low it doesn't need doing)

 

[Northerner]

I'm really not sure Mark, I think I only ever have the creatine and urine tests Like you say, perhaps my consultant doesn't think the acr is necessary. I also never get told my trigs or my HDL/LDL chol, just total and HDL.

 

[Vicsetter]

I'm really not sure Mark, I think I only ever have the creatine and urine tests Like you say, perhaps my consultant doesn't think the acr is necessary. I also never get told my trigs or my HDL/LDL chol, just total and HDL.

Same here, but I think it's because the total cholesterol test is a lot cheaper than the trig/hdl/ldl test, so it's just GPs trying to reduce his expenditure.

 

[Redkite]

The ACR is a urine test (ratio of albumin to creatinine in the urine), not to be confused with the level of creatinine measured in the blood. If you have a urine sample dipsticked for protein and this is negative, there is no need for a urine ACR as this will also be zero. It is only when the urine dipstick is positive for protein that this should be quantified by doing an ACR. Sadly I have become a bit too familiar with this particular test

 

[Northerner]

The ACR is a urine test (ratio of albumin to creatinine in the urine), not to be confused with the level of creatinine measured in the blood. If you have a urine sample dipsticked for protein and this is negative, there is no need for a urine ACR as this will also be zero. It is only when the urine dipstick is positive for protein that this should be quantified by doing an ACR. Sadly I have become a bit too familiar with this particular test

Thanks for the clarification Redkite, I'm sorry you find yourself so familiar with the reasons

 

[Mark T]

Thanks for the information Redkite 🙂