Kidneys 101
Breaking down kidney function from creatinine levels to glomerular filtration rate.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) develops when kidneys become damaged and stop working properly for longer than three months. When the kidneys don’t work well, the wastes and fluids building up in the body can cause high blood pressure, heart disease, stroke, and premature death.
To measure kidney function, physicians look at patients’ glomerular filtration rate (GFR), which determines how much blood is passing through the glomeruli, or tiny filters in the kidneys that remove waste from the blood.