What Is Proteinuria

Proteinuria is a disease in which the afflicted person has an excess amount of serum proteins in their urine. Symptoms of Proteinuria are foamy urine. There are three causes of Proteinuria, one can be having a disease in the glomerulus, it can be caused by having an increased quantity of proteins in serum and the last cause is having a low reabsorption at proximal tubule.

The most common way to diagnose Proteinuria is by having a dipstick test done. These tests are not a foolproof way to diagnose Proteinuria; false negatives can be reported if the protein in the urine is composed mainly of globulins or Bence-Jones Proteins because of the reagent of the testing strips. Because of the frequency of false negatives being reported it is best to have the dipstick test done in a 24-hour urine collection test. This will give a more conclusive result as to the diagnosis of Proteinuria.

Proteinuria can be a sign of kidney damage. Because serum proteins are commonly reabsorbed into the system through urine, having an excess of protein in the urine can be a sign of the patient not being able to reabsorb proteins or there is a problem in the filtration of the proteins. Proteinuria is a common problem among diabetics. If Proteinuria is present it may be because the patient is diabetic, because they may not be aware that they are diabetic tests should be done to determine if the patient is indeed diabetic. If the test shows that they aren't, then further tests must be done to determine what is causing the excess protein in the urine.

Once the patient has been diagnosed as having Proteinuria, the next step is to begin treatment. If the cause of Proteinuria is diabetes, then the patient must begin treatment to regulate the patient's glucose levels. By treating the patient with diabetes medication, it may slow the progression of Proteinuria. After the patient has begun treatment, it is important that they continue to be tested to measure the levels of protein in their system. These periodic tests will help the doctors to see if the levels are under control or are increasing. If the levels are increasing the doctors may have to change the method of treatment that the patient is currently on. Once the treatment has begun the chances of controlling Proteinuria are very positive and the outlook is quite good.

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