I had a recent blood panel through my diabetes doctor. All of my numbers were quite good (A1c 5.5) with two exceptions. My “Appearance S” was “Hazy,” while my “Creatine Kinase” was 342 (25 to 200 reference). What are these two tests for? Are they related? Is there reason for me to be concerned? My doctor is at a conference and am not able to reach her for comment.

The appearance is probably the overall appearance of a urine specimen. That is not a big deal. The creatine kinase is a muscle enzyme and be elevated for many reasons. Sometimes, if you are on a cholesterol lowering medication, your doctor will monitor this enzyme test to determine if there is inflammation in the muscles, a side effect of the drug. Sometimes, the muscle enzyme is elevated for nonspecific reasons, such as strenuous physical exercise, an intramuscular injection, or a fall where you may have traumatized muscle. I would wait for your physician to discuss this test with you. You may decide you want to repeat the test to see if it remains elevated.

JTL