Urea
→ Waste Product: Urea is a waste product formed in the liver from the breakdown of proteins.
→ Excretion Pathway: It is transported via the bloodstream to the kidneys, where it is filtered out and excreted in urine.
→ Health Indicator: Urea levels are measured to assess kidney function; high levels may indicate kidney dysfunction.
→ Protein Metabolism: It helps remove excess nitrogen from the body, a byproduct of protein metabolism.
→ CMP Component: Urea (or BUN) is a key marker on a Comprehensive Metabolic Panel (CMP) used to monitor overall metabolic and renal health.
Urea, also known as blood urea nitrogen (BUN) when referring specifically to its nitrogen component, is a waste product formed in the liver as a result of protein metabolism. It serves as a crucial indicator of kidney function and overall health. When proteins in your diet are broken down, ammonia is produced as a byproduct, which is then converted into urea by the liver to make it less toxic. This urea is then released into the bloodstream and carried to the kidneys, which filter it out of the blood and excrete it in the urine. By measuring the level of urea in your blood, healthcare providers can assess how well your kidneys are functioning.
Elevated levels of urea may indicate that the kidneys are not effectively filtering waste from the blood, which can be due to various conditions such as kidney disease, dehydration, or heart failure. Conversely, lower-than-normal levels of urea could suggest liver problems or malnutrition. Therefore, the urea measurement on a CMP panel provides valuable insights into your metabolic and renal health, helping your healthcare provider diagnose potential issues and monitor ongoing conditions effectively.
While BUN and urea are intertwined in their roles and functions, it's essential to recognize their differences. Urea is a waste product formed in the liver, helping to eliminate excess nitrogen, while BUN is a measure of the nitrogen content derived from urea in the blood. Both are critical for assessing and maintaining kidney health and ensuring the body's metabolic processes are running smoothly. Regular check-ups and understanding these terms can lead to better health outcomes and more informed medical care.
What does it mean if your Urea result is too high?
Elevated urea levels on a blood test, often measured as blood urea nitrogen (BUN), can indicate several potential issues:
Possible Causes
Kidney dysfunction: High BUN levels commonly suggest that the kidneys are not filtering waste products effectively. This could be due to acute or chronic kidney disease.
Dehydration: Insufficient fluid intake can lead to higher BUN concentrations in the blood.
Other medical conditions:
- Congestive heart failure
- Gastrointestinal bleeding
- Urinary tract obstruction
- Severe burns
- Increased protein breakdown
Diet and medications: A high-protein diet can raise BUN levels.
Interpretation
It's important to note that:
- Normal BUN levels typically range from 6-20 mg/dL for adults, though this can vary between laboratories.
- BUN is often evaluated alongside other tests like creatinine for a more comprehensive assessment of kidney function.
- The BUN-to-creatinine ratio can help differentiate between kidney-related and non-kidney-related causes of elevated BUN.
Considerations
- BUN levels can be affected by factors such as age, sex, diet, and overall health.
- While BUN is used to evaluate kidney function, it's not considered as reliable as creatinine or the BUN-to-creatinine ratio.
- Interpretation of BUN results should always be done by a healthcare professional in the context of the patient's clinical picture.
If your BUN levels are elevated, your healthcare provider will likely review your medical history, consider other test results, and may order additional tests to determine the underlying cause. Treatment will depend on the identified cause and may include addressing dehydration, managing underlying conditions, or adjusting medications.
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
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.