How Often Should Diabetes Patients Get Microalbumin Testing?
More Programs and Publications Featuring Dr. Kyle Riding
In this program:
Diabetes patients should receive periodic microalbumin testing, but how often should they get tested? Medical laboratory scientist Dr. Kyle Riding explains what is monitored with microalbumin testing and advice for ensuring you receive proactive monitoring.
Transcript
Interviewer:
I want to shift towards talking about diabetes. So Dr. Riding, Black and Brown patients often face the highest rates of diabetes and high blood pressure, especially in the United States. Should diabetes patients have a microalbumin test at least once a year or more frequently?
Dr. Kyle Riding:
So the TLDR version, an answer to that is yes, I will say they should get the microalbumin all the time. But let me explain what microalbumin is for the patients watching this right now. Microalbumin is a test that detects small amounts of a protein called albumin in your urine. So a microalbumin test will always be run on a urine sample. Sometimes it may be run on a 24-hour urine sample where you're asked to collect every time you go to the bathroom for 24 hours; talk about a real downer having to carry a jug around with you all day. But it's really important because as different conditions like type 2 diabetes or hypertension damage our kidneys, the damage is very low key. It's very insidious and it takes time to happen. And what will start to be one of the really early warning signs that your kidney function has been compromised is that now very small amounts of this protein called albumin are getting through your kidneys and into your urine. That shouldn't happen.
So that, the presence of microalbumin in your urine, suggests some level of kidney impairment. And there are a lot, a lot, a lot of great groups out there, a lot of think tanks out there that truly recommend the fact that as a patient with type 2 diabetes, you should be getting a microalbumin test performed at least every year starting from the time of your diagnosis. Okay? If you're a type 1 diabetic because the differences in how those two types of diabetes works, the type 1 diabetics can wait a little bit. Annual screens, it's recommended. Annual screens can be pushed out to five years after initial diagnosis. But here's the thing. If that microalbumin, that annual urine test comes back normal, you're good till the next year. So you're in good shape until the next year.
However, if there's an abnormal result, we rarely like to go off of one result alone. Okay? So what your physician should recommend to you at that point is within the next three to six months, you should have another, at least two microalbumin tests performed on you. They're not just trying to get your co-pays, they're not trying to drag you back into their office or anything like that. It's actually the practice guideline to confirm that there is microalbumin in the urine and that it is a chronic issue suggestive of kidney dysfunction that needs to be taken care of. So I will say, let me distill this down into an action item for you all as patients. If you have diabetes, make sure to adhere to the annual screens from microalbumin and any other lab tests that your physician is recommending related to your diabetes. Prevention is key.
So the action item for any patients that are watching this, please make sure you do adhere to the annual laboratory screens that your physician is recommending as it relates to your diabetes, including microalbumin, because it's going to provide you and your physician with knowledge of what's happening to your whole body because of that diabetes. And if some organ system like your kidneys is starting to have issues, there's therapies out there to hold it at bay. Prevention is so key in keeping you healthy. And the best way to do that is annual screenings.
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