Blood urea nitrogen <\/b>(BUN<\/b>) is a measure of the amount of urea in the blood<\/b> [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n The liver produces urea as a waste product of proteins breakdown. It binds excess nitrogen from used-up proteins and safely removes it from the body [R<\/a>, R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Urea is created not only from dietary protein, but also from protein in your tissues<\/b> [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n On a normal diet, we produce about 12 g of urea each day [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n The bulk of the urea<\/b>, about 10 g each day, is eliminated by the kidneys <\/b>[R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Being a diuretic, urea helps the kidneys quickly flush water and other compounds [R<\/a>, R<\/a>].<\/p>\n A small amount of urea (less than 0.5 g\/day) is lost through the gut, lungs, and skin. During exercise<\/a>, a substantial amount may be lost through sweat [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/books\/NBK305\/<\/p>\n A blood urea nitrogen (BUN) test is performed to:<\/p>\n Any standard blood test will have BUN or urea numbers<\/b>.<\/p>\n Conventional doctors will look at high or low BUN numbers and not mention anything, but these can indicate that certain processes in the body aren’t optimal.<\/p>\n BUN levels represent the balance between [R<\/a>]:<\/p>\n Therefore, BUN is an indicator of kidney health and\/or liver health<\/b>.<\/p>\n However, creatinine is a much more reliable marker of kidney function. BUN is far more likely to be affected by dietary and physiologic conditions unrelated to kidney function [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Lab results are commonly shown as a set of values known as a reference range, which is sometimes referred to as a \u201cnormal range.\u201d A reference range includes upper and lower limits of a lab test based on a group of otherwise healthy people.<\/p>\n Your healthcare provider will compare your lab test results with reference values to see if any of your results fall outside the range of expected values. By doing so, you and your healthcare provider can gain clues to help identify possible conditions or diseases.<\/p>\n In Europe, the whole urea molecule is measured<\/b>, whereas in the United States only the nitrogen component of urea is measured<\/b> (the blood or serum urea nitrogen, i.e., BUN or SUN) [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n The BUN is roughly one-half of the blood urea [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Normal human adult blood should contain between 5 to 20 mg of urea nitrogen per 100 ml (5 to 20 mg\/dL) of blood, or 1.8 to 7.1 mmol urea per liter [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n To convert from mg\/dL of blood urea nitrogen to mmol\/L of urea, multiply by 0.357.<\/p>\n The range is wide because of normal variations due to protein intake, protein breakdown, state of hydration, liver urea production, and urea elimination by the kidneys [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Decreased or elevated BUN concentrations are usually seen in pregnancy [R<\/a>, R<\/a>].<\/p>\n A BUN test is usually done with a blood creatinine test.<\/p>\n The level of creatinine in your blood also tells how well your kidneys are working. A high creatinine level may signal problems with the kidneys or heart, but if it’s slightly elevated, it could simply mean that your diet is high in protein [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine tests can be used together to find the BUN-to-creatinine ratio (BUN:creatinine).<\/p>\n In most cases, it’s healthier to have a lower ratio of BUN to creatinine (10:1 to 20:1) [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n The urea nitrogen test is often ordered for people who are experiencing signs and symptoms of kidney disorders. These symptoms can include:<\/p>\n The causes shown here have been associated with elevated BUN, but this marker alone is not enough to diagnose any health condition. Do not attempt to self-diagnose based on this lab marker. Work with your doctor to determine an accurate diagnosis<\/b> and to develop an appropriate treatment or management strategy.<\/p>\n All the following can elevate your BUN:<\/p>\n You may be wondering why high BUN is bad.<\/p>\n To start with, elevated urea on its own has some adverse effects. Urea in high concentrations can cause oxidative stress<\/a> in cells [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n However, high BUN is also an indicator of other underlying conditions.<\/p>\n High BUN indicates increased protein breakdown, which is associated with decreased immune function. A study shows that patients with elevated BUN (> 20 mg\/dl) have an increased risk of infection<\/b> [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n High BUN is associated with increased mortality<\/b> in critically ill patients [R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Elevated BUN is also associated with increased stroke risk in heart surgery, and adverse outcomes in atherosclerosis and heart failure patients [R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Note that BUN values remain within the normal range until more than 50% of renal function is lost. Within that range, however, a doubling of the values (e.g., BUN rising from 8 to 16 mg\/dl) may mean a 50% fall in kidney function [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Most importantly, work with your doctor to treat any underlying conditions causing your high BUN levels. You may try the additional strategies listed below if you and your doctor determine that they could be appropriate. None of these strategies should ever be done in place of what your doctor recommends or prescribes.<\/b><\/p>\n There are two main ways to decrease BUN<\/b>:<\/p>\n The causes shown here have been associated with low BUN, but this marker alone is not enough to diagnose any health condition. Do not attempt to self-diagnose based on this lab marker. Work with your doctor to determine an accurate diagnosis<\/b> and to develop an appropriate treatment or management strategy.<\/p>\n The following can excessively lower your BUN:<\/p>\n Testing urea levels in the blood provides information about your health. This post covers the causes of high and low blood urea nitrogen (BUN) and what they may mean for you.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14185,"featured_media":31478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[89,363],"tags":[294,279,457,461],"yst_prominent_words":[25690,25694,25688,6110,4865,8619,8621,25692,25693,25689,17963,8625,8623,511,515,25695,8620,6111,8622,25691],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14387"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14185"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14387"}],"version-history":[{"count":16,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14387\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141602,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14387\/revisions\/141602"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14387"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14387"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14387"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/selfhacked.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=14387"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"urea\"](\"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/selfhacked.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/urea.jpg?resize=600%2C446&ssl=1\")
<\/p>\nBUN Blood Test<\/span><\/h2>\n
Why Doctors Order it<\/span><\/h3>\n
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What Your BUN Levels Mean<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Optimal and Normal Range<\/b><\/span><\/h3>\n
BUN\/Creatinine Ratio<\/span><\/h3>\n
High BUN Levels<\/span><\/h2>\n
Symptoms<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Causes<\/span><\/h3>\n
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Negative Health Effects<\/span><\/h3>\n
How to Lower BUN<\/span><\/h3>\n
Diet & Supplements<\/b><\/h4>\n
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Low BUN Levels<\/span><\/h2>\n
Causes<\/span><\/h3>\n
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