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Protein in Urine (Proteinuria)
What is proteinuria?
What causes proteinuria?
How will I know if there is protein in my urine?
How is it treated?
More Information
Proteinuria is the medical name for having protein in your urine.
Healthy kidneys filter waste and extra fluid from blood. The body gets rid of these wastes and fluid through urine. With proteinuria, some protein “leaks” out of the blood along with the wastes.
Protein acts like a sponge in the blood. It holds fluids that the body needs inside arteries and veins. If there is not enough protein, this fluid leaks out into other body tissues. This causes swelling, or edema. This usually happens around the eyes, face, feet, ankles and belly.
Proteinuria is an early sign of kidney damage.
Proteinuria can be caused by many conditions. Sometimes, the cause is harmless. For example, not drinking enough water or exercising more than usual can cause protein to show up in urine. But protein in the urine can also be an early sign of kidney disease. Your doctor may need to do more tests to tell the difference.
Unfortunately, there are usually no signs of protein in the urine. In some cases, proteinuria may cause urine to look foamy, but this is not always true.
A simple urine test at your doctor’s office can tell if there is protein in your urine.
If your urine has protein, your doctor will want to run more tests to find the cause. Often, the next step is another urine test. This is done to see whether or not there is still protein in your urine. For this, your doctor may ask you to collect your urine at home for twenty-four hours.
If this second test shows no protein, you may not need any treatment. But your doctor might want to follow up with routine urine tests to see if the protein returns.
If the second test does show protein, your doctor may want to do other tests to find the cause. The treatment for your proteinuria will depend on the cause.
Because proteinuria can be an early sign of kidney disease, it is important to see your doctor for early treatment!
American Academy of Family Physicians
http://familydoctor.org/329.xml
National Kidney and Urologic Diseases Information Clearinghouse
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/proteinuria/index.htm
PDF: http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/pdf/proteinuria.pdf
National Kidney Foundation
http://www.kidney.org/atoz/atozItem.cfm?id=132
Updated 1/10/2008 | 
