I recently had a creatinine test done at a local hospital. They told me the test came back at 1.1. Is that good? I’m 47 years old. I’ve had type 1 diabetes for 24 years. I take an ACE inhibitor, Accupril, 20 mg. Will the day every come where I will need to be on a kidney machine?

The creatinine value of 1.1 mg/dl is normal. However, the serum creatinine only becomes elevated late in the course of diabetes-related kidney disease. It is important to follow the urine albumin excretion level as this test will pick up diabetes-related kidney problems much earlier than will the serum creatinine level. The good news is that most people with type 1 diabetes demonstrate their risk for developing kidney failure with nephropathy within 15 to 20 years duration of the disease. After that, if you don’t have it, it is much less likely you will develop kidney failure from diabetes involvement of your kidneys.

I would recommend you have your doctor obtain a urine albumin test. This can be done on a random urine specimen. A 24-hour urine does not have to be done for a screening test. This will give you more information. I would also recommend you speak with your physician about this risk.

JTL