[salawat]

>Kidney function is most often estimated indirectly, based on measurements of the amount of a chemical called creatine in the blood.

That's the money shot. What he is saying is that given the assumption of a normal diet and a well functioning kidney, creatine blood level is a useful proxy for indicating kidney health.

The problem comes in that your creatine level's usefulness as a proxy for kidney health is reliant on the assumption you're eating a relatively normal diet. If you eat one low in creatine, but also have failing kidneys, the low level of creatine intake masks the kidney health indicator because the doctor will likely assume you are eating a normal diet, and not calibrate the numbers to reflect your particular situation.

It's not that the numbers don't matter; it's that you need to understand how the mechanics of the measurement can be effected by violated base assumptions. Always talk with a physician, and try to give them as much relevant information with regards to your lifestyle as you can.

[paul9290]

Sure and each month I get labs done and review them with my renal doc. She advocates a plant based diet and has seen her clients stave off dialysis for over 20 years through diet. It took awhile to find such a doc as all others said there's no hope or nothing can be done..getting ready to decline further. Nope those docs were fired!

[salawat]

I wasn't trying to imply the diet approach didn't work. I was just trying to make it a little more clear how the mechanics of the measurement could lead to misunderstandings occurring in the absence of sharing details pertinent to the process of conducting the measurement.

I too have experienced what happens when you have to run the gauntlet of physicians who seem to have stopped thinking upon receipt of their medical degree as well. Hence the encouragement to coordinate with a physician. Not necessarily the one who might not be doing a great job working with you to manage your health.