About GFR

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Your kidneys are made up of millions of tiny filters (glomeruli). All of your blood flows through these filters 12 times each hour. The filters remove wastes and extra water from your blood and send them to your bladder as urine.

Your glomerular filtration rate (GFR)—is a measure of how well your kidneys are working.

It is hard to measure GFR. Instead, doctors use a formula to estimate GFR (eGFR). In February 2002, the Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) guidelines chose eGFR as the best test of how well kidneys are working.

Why GFR is important

If you have kidney disease, you may not feel sick. More than 26 million adult Americans have chronic kidney disease, but most don’t know it!

Your eGFR, along with other tests, can help your doctor decide if you have kidney disease.

If you have kidney disease, there are things you can do to slow down or prevent further damage to your kidneys.

To learn more about GFR, visit these sites:

http://www.aakp.org/print-version/dsp_library_art.cfm?art=283
http://www.nkdep.nih.gov/resources/glomerular_filtration_rate.htm

Learn more about the 5 stages of chronic kidney disease.