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Understanding Your eGFR Score

The Kidney Performance Scale: Your eGFR is measured in millilitres per minute per 1.73 square metres of body surface area, providing a standardised way to compare kidney function across different people.

A normal eGFR for a healthy adult is 90 or higher, indicating that your kidneys are filtering blood at optimal efficiency. As this number decreases, it reveals progressively more significant kidney function impairment, like a performance meter showing declining efficiency in a vital body system.

The Five Stages Of Kidney Function: Doctors categorise kidney function into five distinct stages based on your eGFR, like a classification system that helps determine the appropriate level of care and intervention.

Why Monitor Your Kidney Function: Kidney health can quietly change over time, often without any noticeable symptoms. You might feel completely well even if your estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is below the ideal range. That’s because your kidneys are remarkably resilient, continuing to do their job even when under strain.

This quiet resilience is why regular eGFR monitoring matters—it gives you early insight into how your kidneys are coping, well before any issues become noticeable. Catching subtle changes early gives you and your doctor more options to protect long-term kidney health.

Understanding Your eGFR Score

The Kidney Performance Scale: Your eGFR is measured in millilitres per minute per 1.73 square metres of body surface area, providing a standardised way to compare kidney function across different people.

A normal eGFR for a healthy adult is 90 or higher, indicating that your kidneys are filtering blood at optimal efficiency. As this number decreases, it reveals progressively more significant kidney function impairment, like a performance meter showing declining efficiency in a vital body system.

The Five Stages Of Kidney Function: Doctors categorise kidney function into five distinct stages based on your eGFR, like a classification system that helps determine the appropriate level of care and intervention.

Why Monitor Your Kidney Function: Kidney health can quietly change over time, often without any noticeable symptoms. You might feel completely well even if your estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is below the ideal range. That’s because your kidneys are remarkably resilient, continuing to do their job even when under strain.

This quiet resilience is why regular eGFR monitoring matters—it gives you early insight into how your kidneys are coping, well before any issues become noticeable. Catching subtle changes early gives you and your doctor more options to protect long-term kidney health.

Understanding Your eGFR Score

The Kidney Performance Scale: Your eGFR is measured in millilitres per minute per 1.73 square metres of body surface area, providing a standardised way to compare kidney function across different people.

A normal eGFR for a healthy adult is 90 or higher, indicating that your kidneys are filtering blood at optimal efficiency. As this number decreases, it reveals progressively more significant kidney function impairment, like a performance meter showing declining efficiency in a vital body system.

The Five Stages Of Kidney Function: Doctors categorise kidney function into five distinct stages based on your eGFR, like a classification system that helps determine the appropriate level of care and intervention.

Why Monitor Your Kidney Function: Kidney health can quietly change over time, often without any noticeable symptoms. You might feel completely well even if your estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is below the ideal range. That’s because your kidneys are remarkably resilient, continuing to do their job even when under strain.

This quiet resilience is why regular eGFR monitoring matters—it gives you early insight into how your kidneys are coping, well before any issues become noticeable. Catching subtle changes early gives you and your doctor more options to protect long-term kidney health.

When eGFR Numbers Signal Danger

How Kidney Disease Progresses: Kidney disease typically progresses gradually, with eGFR declining slowly over months or years rather than dropping suddenly. It's like a slow leak in a boat that gradually lets in more water—initially manageable, but eventually overwhelming if not addressed appropriately.

An eGFR below 60 that persists for more than three months indicates chronic kidney disease, regardless of the underlying cause. This threshold represents the point where kidney function has declined enough to potentially affect your overall health and require medical intervention.

Age-Related Changes: Normal ageing naturally reduces kidney function, with eGFR typically declining by about 1 unit per year after age 40. However, kidney disease accelerates this decline dramatically, causing eGFR to drop much faster than normal ageing would predict.

Understanding the difference between normal age-related decline and disease-related deterioration helps doctors determine whether your eGFR changes represent natural ageing or require active treatment to prevent further damage.

Risk Factors and Complications: As your eGFR declines, your risk of complications increases significantly. Lower kidney function affects your body's ability to regulate blood pressure, maintain proper electrolyte balance, and produce essential hormones, like a central control system that's gradually losing its ability to maintain optimal body function.

People with eGFR below 60 also face increased risks of cardiovascular disease, bone problems, and anaemia, demonstrating how kidney health affects virtually every aspect of your wellbeing.

When eGFR Numbers Signal Danger

How Kidney Disease Progresses: Kidney disease typically progresses gradually, with eGFR declining slowly over months or years rather than dropping suddenly. It's like a slow leak in a boat that gradually lets in more water—initially manageable, but eventually overwhelming if not addressed appropriately.

An eGFR below 60 that persists for more than three months indicates chronic kidney disease, regardless of the underlying cause. This threshold represents the point where kidney function has declined enough to potentially affect your overall health and require medical intervention.

Age-Related Changes: Normal ageing naturally reduces kidney function, with eGFR typically declining by about 1 unit per year after age 40. However, kidney disease accelerates this decline dramatically, causing eGFR to drop much faster than normal ageing would predict.

Understanding the difference between normal age-related decline and disease-related deterioration helps doctors determine whether your eGFR changes represent natural ageing or require active treatment to prevent further damage.

Risk Factors and Complications: As your eGFR declines, your risk of complications increases significantly. Lower kidney function affects your body's ability to regulate blood pressure, maintain proper electrolyte balance, and produce essential hormones, like a central control system that's gradually losing its ability to maintain optimal body function.

People with eGFR below 60 also face increased risks of cardiovascular disease, bone problems, and anaemia, demonstrating how kidney health affects virtually every aspect of your wellbeing.

When eGFR Numbers Signal Danger

How Kidney Disease Progresses: Kidney disease typically progresses gradually, with eGFR declining slowly over months or years rather than dropping suddenly. It's like a slow leak in a boat that gradually lets in more water—initially manageable, but eventually overwhelming if not addressed appropriately.

An eGFR below 60 that persists for more than three months indicates chronic kidney disease, regardless of the underlying cause. This threshold represents the point where kidney function has declined enough to potentially affect your overall health and require medical intervention.

Age-Related Changes: Normal ageing naturally reduces kidney function, with eGFR typically declining by about 1 unit per year after age 40. However, kidney disease accelerates this decline dramatically, causing eGFR to drop much faster than normal ageing would predict.

Understanding the difference between normal age-related decline and disease-related deterioration helps doctors determine whether your eGFR changes represent natural ageing or require active treatment to prevent further damage.

Risk Factors and Complications: As your eGFR declines, your risk of complications increases significantly. Lower kidney function affects your body's ability to regulate blood pressure, maintain proper electrolyte balance, and produce essential hormones, like a central control system that's gradually losing its ability to maintain optimal body function.

People with eGFR below 60 also face increased risks of cardiovascular disease, bone problems, and anaemia, demonstrating how kidney health affects virtually every aspect of your wellbeing.

What Affects Your Kidney Efficiency

Diabetes and High Blood Pressure: Diabetes and high blood pressure act like relentless forces that gradually damage the tiny blood vessels in your kidneys, reducing their filtering efficiency over time. These conditions are the leading causes of kidney disease, working like slow-acting toxins that methodically destroy kidney function if not properly controlled.

High blood sugar levels damage kidney filters, whilst high blood pressure puts excessive strain on delicate kidney blood vessels, like forcing a garden hose to operate at pressure levels far beyond its design capacity.

Age and Genetics: Your genetic makeup influences your baseline kidney function and your susceptibility to kidney disease, like inherited architectural plans that determine both the initial quality and long-term durability of your filtration system.

Some people inherit genes that make their kidneys more resilient to damage, whilst others have genetic variants that increase their risk of kidney disease even with optimal lifestyle choices. Understanding your family history helps assess your personal risk profile.

Medications and Toxins: Certain medications can damage kidney function, particularly when used long-term or in high doses. Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), some antibiotics, and contrast dyes used in medical imaging can all affect kidney efficiency, like chemicals that gradually corrode the filters in your body's cleaning system.

Environmental toxins, including heavy metals and certain chemicals, can also contribute to kidney damage over time, emphasising the importance of avoiding unnecessary exposure to potentially harmful substances.

Lifestyle Factors: Your daily habits significantly influence kidney health and eGFR over time. Regular exercise, maintaining a healthy weight, staying hydrated, and following a balanced diet all support optimal kidney function, like providing your filtration system with the maintenance and fuel it needs to operate efficiently.

Smoking damages blood vessels throughout your body, including those in your kidneys, whilst excessive alcohol consumption can strain kidney function and interfere with blood pressure regulation.

Protecting Your Kidney Function

Blood Sugar and Blood Pressure Control: Maintaining optimal blood sugar and blood pressure levels is crucial for preserving kidney function, like keeping the operating conditions within safe parameters for a sensitive piece of machinery. Even small improvements in these areas can significantly slow the progression of kidney disease.

Dietary Modifications: A kidney-friendly diet emphasises fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and lean proteins whilst limiting processed foods, excessive salt, and foods high in phosphorus and potassium if kidney function is significantly reduced. It's like providing your kidneys with high-quality fuel whilst avoiding substances that make their job harder.

Staying well-hydrated supports kidney function, but people with advanced kidney disease might need to limit fluid intake to prevent overload. Your healthcare team can provide personalised guidance based on your specific eGFR and overall health status.

Regular Monitoring and Early Intervention: Regular eGFR monitoring allows for early detection of kidney function changes, enabling prompt intervention when treatments are most effective. Like regular maintenance checks for critical equipment, consistent monitoring helps prevent small problems from becoming major complications.

Early intervention might include medications to protect kidney function, lifestyle modifications, or treatment of underlying conditions contributing to kidney damage. The sooner problems are identified and addressed, the better the chances of preserving remaining kidney function.