Creatine kinase
Other names: CK, CREATINE KINASE, TOTAL, Creatine Kinase,Total, CK (Serum)
Creatine kinase (CK) is an enzyme found primarily in the brain, skeletal muscles, and heart. Conditions that cause damage to any of these three areas produce an elevated level of CK. For this reason, CK tests are often run to detect muscle damage, especially if someone is taking a drug such as a statin, using cocaine, or has been exposed to a toxin. If you’re experiencing chest pain or weakness your doctor may order a CK test to determine if you’ve had a heart attack. It is also common for doctors to use this test to evaluate the extent of sports injuries. Creatine kinase levels reflect the amount of muscle in the body, and as such men typically have higher levels than women. Finally, a CK test may be used to diagnose rhabdomyolysis, a condition characterized by the rapid breakdown of muscle tissue. It is worth noting that a normal level of CK does not necessarily mean that there is no muscle damage. It could mean that the damage occurred long enough ago for levels to return to normal. Frequently, a succession of CK tests are run as changes in CK levels due to muscle damage can take hours to present.
Normal Ranges:
Normal CK levels change drastically depending on factors such as age, gender, and activity level. Generally, 24-204 U/L is considered normal.
Creatine Kinase and liver enzymes (ALT and AST):
- A normal CK level with elevated ALT and AST enzymes would sway a doctor toward thinking there’s a liver problem;
- A high CK with high ALT and AST levels suggests that something’s going on in the muscle.
Doing additional enzyme tests after a general screen can help a doctor decide whether the high ALT and AST are more likely the result of liver or muscle damage.
Of course, there could be a problem in both liver and muscle. Some metabolic muscle disorders, such as acid maltase deficiency and debrancher enzyme deficiency, affect both tissues. And two diseases can occur in the same person.
Most of the time, elevated ALT and AST levels in people with degenerating muscles do not mean much, other than that these enzymes, along with CK, are leaking out of the muscles. (The high levels of enzymes do no harm in and of themselves.) But sometimes, depending on results of other tests and the person’s history, they can mean there’s trouble in the liver or even in another organ.
What does it mean if your Creatine kinase result is too high?
Having a high level of creatine kinase (CK), or a rise in levels in subsequent CK tests, generally indicates that you have experienced some recent muscle damage.
A CK test cannot indicate which muscle(s) was damaged or the cause of the damage.
Healthcare providers often have you get multiple CK tests to check the progress of your levels. If you have multiple test results that peak and then begin to drop, it usually means your muscle damage has diminished. If your CK levels increase or stay at a persistently high level, it may indicate that you have ongoing muscle damage or muscle degeneration.
If your results show you have higher-than-normal levels of CK, your provider may order tests to check the levels of specific CK enzymes in order to determine the type of muscles affected, including:
- CK-MM enzymes (skeletal muscles cells): High levels of CK-MM may mean you have a muscle injury or disease, such as muscular dystrophy or rhabdomyolysis.
- CK-MB enzymes (heart muscle cells): High levels of CK-MB may mean you have an inflammation in your heart muscle or are having or recently had a heart attack.
- CK-BB enzymes (brain tissue cells): High levels of CK-MB may mean you have had a stroke or brain injury.
Other causes of increased creatine kinase (CK) levels:
Certain conditions and injuries that are not directly related to your muscles can cause elevated CK levels, including:
- Hormonal (endocrine) disorders, such as thyroid disease, Addison’s disease or Cushing’s syndrome.
- Prolonged surgeries.
- Seizures.
- Infections (viral, bacterial, fungal or parasitic).
- Connective tissue disorders, such as lupus and rheumatoid arthritis.
- Celiac disease.
- Kidney (renal) failure.
- High fever accompanied by shivering.
- A blood clot.
- Any drug or toxin that interferes with muscle energy production or increases energy requirements.
- Shot injections.
Additional notes: If your creatine kinase (CK) test results reveal that you have high levels of CK, it does not't necessarily mean that you have a medical condition. Many other factors, such as exercise, certain medications and shot injections, can temporarily increase your CK levels. There could have also been an error in the processing of the test. When interpreting your results, your healthcare provider will consider several factors, including your current medications, lifestyle and symptoms. They will let you know if you need further testing.
All Your Lab Results.
One Simple Dashboard.
Import, Track, and Share Your Lab Results Easily
Import, Track, and Share Your Lab Results
Import lab results from multiple providers, track changes over time, customize your reference ranges, and get clear explanations for each result. Everything is stored securely, exportable in one organized file, and shareable with your doctor—or anyone you choose.
Cancel or upgrade anytime
What does it mean if your Creatine kinase result is too low?
A low CK level could be the result of alcoholic liver disease or rheumatoid arthritis. As CK levels are a reflection of total muscle mass, people who have been confined to bed rest for extended periods of time will display abnormally low CK levels. Women generally have lower CK levels than men, because they typically have less muscle mass. Additionally, a pregnant woman will display lower CK levels than a non-pregnant woman.
Laboratories
Bring All Your Lab Results Together — In One Place
We accept reports from any lab, so you can easily collect and organize all your health information in one secure spot.
Pricing Table
Gather Your Lab History — and Finally Make Sense of It
Finally, Your Lab Results Organized and Clear
Personal plans
$79/ year
Advanced Plan
Access your lab reports, explanations, and tracking tools.
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track all results with visual tools
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export your full lab history anytime
- Share results securely with anyone
- Receive 5 reports entered for you
- Cancel or upgrade anytime
$250/ once
Unlimited Account
Pay once, access everything—no monthly fees, no limits.
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track all results with visual tools
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export your full lab history anytime
- Share results securely with anyone
- Receive 10 reports entered for you
- No subscriptions. No extra fees.
$45/ month
Pro Monthly
Designed for professionals managing their clients' lab reports
- Import lab results from any provider
- Track lab results for multiple clients
- Customize reference ranges per client
- Export lab histories and reports
- Begin with first report entered by us
- Cancel or upgrade anytime
About membership
What's included in a Healthmatters membership
Import Lab Results from Any Source
See Your Health Timeline
Understand What Your Results Mean
Visualize Your Results
Data Entry Service for Your Reports
Securely Share With Anyone You Trust
Let Your Lab Results Tell the Full Story
Once your results are in one place, see the bigger picture — track trends over time, compare data side by side, export your full history, and share securely with anyone you trust.
Bring all your results together to compare, track progress, export your history, and share securely.
What Healthmatters Members Are Saying
Frequently asked questions
Healthmatters is a personal health dashboard that helps you organize and understand your lab results. It collects and displays your medical test data from any lab in one secure, easy-to-use platform.
- Individuals who want to track and understand their health over time.
- Health professionals, such as doctors, nutritionists, and wellness coaches, need to manage and interpret lab data for their clients.
With a Healthmatters account, you can:
- Upload lab reports from any lab
- View your data in interactive graphs, tables, and timelines
- Track trends and monitor changes over time
- Customize your reference ranges
- Export and share your full lab history
- Access your results anytime, from any device
Professionals can also analyze client data more efficiently and save time managing lab reports.
Healthmatters.io personal account provides in-depth research on 10000+ biomarkers, including information and suggestions for test panels such as, but not limited to:
- The GI Effects® Comprehensive Stool Profile,
- GI-MAP,
- The NutrEval FMV®,
- The ION Profile,
- Amino Acids Profile,
- Dried Urine Test for Comprehensive Hormones (DUTCH),
- Organic Acids Test,
- Organix Comprehensive Profile,
- Toxic Metals,
- Complete Blood Count (CBC),
- Metabolic panel,
- Thyroid panel,
- Lipid Panel,
- Urinalysis,
- And many, many more.
You can combine all test reports inside your Healthmatters account and keep them in one place. It gives you an excellent overview of all your health data. Once you retest, you can add new results and compare them.
If you are still determining whether Healthmatters support your lab results, the rule is that if you can test it, you can upload it to Healthmatters.
We implement proven measures to keep your data safe.
At HealthMatters, we're committed to maintaining the security and confidentiality of your personal information. We've put industry-leading security standards in place to help protect against the loss, misuse, or alteration of the information under our control. We use procedural, physical, and electronic security methods designed to prevent unauthorized people from getting access to this information. Our internal code of conduct adds additional privacy protection. All data is backed up multiple times a day and encrypted using SSL certificates. See our Privacy Policy for more details.