My what? Kidneys??!?

[WCoop]

I have a lot of medical issues, so I'm used to getting a new "label" every so often. But this time I was caught off guard. While under treatment for one of my issues (intracranial hypertension) I just kept getting sicker. Long story short, they ran a number of tests. The nurse called me and seemed a bit alarmed. She said that my renin was 21 and my aldosterone was 140. That they wanted me to see a kidney doctor "right away". I looked at the rest of the labs and there were some others that were sightly off as well. My gfr was 53. But the renin and adlosterone were 7x the normal. This concerns me. Any advice would be appreciated.
And so I impatiently wait for my appointment.

[AnnieB]

Renin is a kidney hormone that controls how much aldosterone is released by the adrenal glands. Your doctor is probably the best person to tell you how this relates to your other medical condition(s), since there are probably a number of different reasons why the results could have been so high.
Hope things work out okay for you.
Anne

[Rerun]

In the US we must use different terms.  Pre-dialysis here they look at Creatinine.  Normal is .5 to 1.5 so if you have a lab  of 10 they usually start dialysis. 

[WCoop]

Rennin is a kidney hormone that controls how much aldosterone is released by the adrenal glands. Your doctor is probably the best person to tell you how this relates to your other medical condition(s), since there are probably a number of different reasons why the results could have been so high.
Hope things work out okay for you.
Anne

AnnieB as I mentioned I have a lot of issues. But none so for have any thing to do with my adrenals. I have intracranial hypertension, meniere's, cauda equina, renauld's, reflex sympathetic dystrophy, fibromyalgia, trigeminal neuralgia, tachycardia, arrhythmia, and migraines. So as you can see most of my issues has been neuropathic in nature thus far. So I was very surprised by those labs. And now I have to wait until the end of September to see the new doc. "Right away" doesn't mean much to the scheduling dept. Oh they did find a splenic cyst and a liver cyst recently.   I almost forgot the hypothyroidism.
I'm just being my usual impatient self.

In the US we must use different terms.  Pre-dialysis here they look at Creatinine.  Normal is .5 to 1.5 so if you have a lab  of 10 they usually start dialysis. 

Rerun thanks for the advice. My creatinine was slightly high. If I remember correctly it was only 1 point above normal. So that's not too bad.

[obsidianom]

"When renal blood flow is reduced, juxtaglomerular cells in the kidneys convert the prorenin already present in the blood into renin and secrete it directly into the circulation. Plasma renin then carries out the conversion of angiotensinogen released by the liver to angiotensin I.[2] Angiotensin I is subsequently converted to angiotensin II by the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme found in the lungs. Angiotensin II is a potent vaso-active peptide that causes blood vessels to constrict, resulting in increased blood pressure.[3] Angiotensin II also stimulates the secretion of the hormone aldosterone[3] from the adrenal cortex. Aldosterone causes the tubules of the kidneys to increase the reabsorption of sodium and water into the blood, while at the same time causing the excretion of potassium (to maintain electrochemical balance). This increases the volume of extracellular fluid in the body, which also increases blood pressure"

So I believe the big issue is your BP. It really needs to be watched carefully. Good luck.

[WCoop]

"When renal blood flow is reduced, juxtaglomerular cells in the kidneys convert the prorenin already present in the blood into renin and secrete it directly into the circulation. Plasma renin then carries out the conversion of angiotensinogen released by the liver to angiotensin I.[2] Angiotensin I is subsequently converted to angiotensin II by the enzyme angiotensin-converting enzyme found in the lungs. Angiotensin II is a potent vaso-active peptide that causes blood vessels to constrict, resulting in increased blood pressure.[3] Angiotensin II also stimulates the secretion of the hormone aldosterone[3] from the adrenal cortex. Aldosterone causes the tubules of the kidneys to increase the reabsorption of sodium and water into the blood, while at the same time causing the excretion of potassium (to maintain electrochemical balance). This increases the volume of extracellular fluid in the body, which also increases blood pressure"

So I believe the big issue is your BP. It really needs to be watched carefully. Good luck.

Except that my blood pressure is good - sometimes a bit low but never high. That doesn't make sense does it?

[Simon Dog]

Angiotensin II is a potent vaso-active

Isn't this what ACE Inhibitors inhibit?

[obsidianom]

Yes on the ACE . I don't know why the BP is ok but probably compensatory mechanisms took over to stabilize the BP. That part is good.
Good luck .