Considering the recent posts on Klotho, that klotho appears to be proportional to kidney function (as indicated by eGFR), and our kidneys are so important to overall health, would be helpful to get a sense of where this community stands.
Would appreciate replies listing your:
eGFR (from standard blood test)
age
sex
Also, if care to share:
Diet
Rapa user?
my eGFR runs 95 to 100 ml/min and I am 70 yo. I eat pant based, a little fish, occasional alcohol and treat. Not a Rapa user, yet.
Which eGFR? Creatinine and/or cystatine based? Race adjusted or not? Adjusted for body surface area or not? If you calculate it yourself you’ll see massive differences depending on the equation used: eGFR Calculator | National Kidney Foundation
eGFR >90 ml/min
Age: 67
Male
Diet: Eat everything except raw tomatoes.
Rapa User: Yes: 3 Mg/week
True, but from standard CBC/CMP blood test, which I believe is indirect, is based partly on creatinine. Not looking for exactness but an estimate. The connection to klotho is not exact, and klotho measures are not exact, but there is a reasonable linear correlation. My guess is that most people here would just take the eGFR from their blood test like I do. If they go to greater lengths, Cystatin C for example, it would still be interesting to have that information and how that differs from the standard test. The main point was that kidney health appears to be correlated to Klotho (as does exercise), and eGFR from standard blood test is a ready, but imperfect, marker of kidney health. Given the apparent health conscious group here I was interested to know what typical values are. If you’d care to share, with your comments on limitations etc., that would be great.
I forgot to mention that my eGFR runs 95 to 100 ml/min and I am 70 yo. I eat pant based, a little fish, occasional alcohol and treats.
I agree with you but my point was that each lab may use a different eGFR method. I sometimes get blood test results with two eGFR, each calculated using a different equation.
I am 72 year old male.
eGFR is 93
From creatinine test (Labcorp)
I envy your labs! My eGFR is 72 (have transplanted kidney). I’m also on plant based diet with occasional fish, no alcohol, no added sugars or salt. 14 years on Rapa.
EGFR 101 (I’ve never even looked at this nor known what it was!!)
This was from prior to starting rapa in march
58
Female
Wfpb
0-3 glasses of wine per month
I am male, just turned 60. Rapa user.
eGFR is one of those tests where as long as you’re in the “normal” range the doctor generally doesn’t call any attention to it. Per LabCorp, “normal” is a value over 60. I have online results from 2012 when my value was 89. Since then I’ve had values as low as 65 but in the past five years they’ve been in the mid 70s. Most recent was 76. Definitely a decreasing trend over a 12 year period. Now I’m thinking I should be more concerned about that than I have been.
Using the website @adssx supplied, my GFR category is “mildly decreased” (CKD-EPI creatinine equation of 80 mL/min/1.73m2).
While I don’t think this is a flashing red light right now, I certainly don’t want the downward trend to continue, and if possible I’d want to reverse it. How to achieve this is the next question…
SGLT2 inhibitors are the gold standard for this. Then renin-angiotensin-system (RAS)-acting agents (such as sartans like telmisartan). Unlikely to reverse the decline, but they significantly slow it down. (Also probably GLP1-RAs, but we need more trials.)
@Dexter_Scott, here are the latest international guidelines on CKD: Optimal Blood Pressure we Should Target? Systolic Under 110 or 100? - #392 by adssx
Easy to understand and comprehensive, well worth a read.
There may be some relevant information here:
Some specific recommendations at 5min45sec
[Understanding eGFR and ways to improve.]
I am considering testing my cystatin C as well. But need to educate myself a bit more.
Regular physicians really don’t counsel people as to how to optimize, they are just making sure you are within the reference ranges.
I take it that eGFR did not change with rapa use?
Do you have a preferred diet? normal omni, meat/fat heavy keto, lacto veg, pesco veg etc? TRE or fasting?
Also, do you use creatine? I understand that it will raise creatinine and therefore lower eGFR giving a sort of false picture of kidney status
I read that entire 900-post thread on canagliflozin and I wasn’t sure it was necessary for me given that my a1c results are 5.0 to 5.1, and my HOMA IR scores show that I’m not “pre-diabetic”. However, I did see that study showing that they are at least somewhat cardioprotective for non-diabetics, and that plus protection against CKD suggests that taking them might be well worthwhile.
I take it that eGFR did not change with rapa use?
Not observably, although I haven’t been taking rapa for very long (two years or so) and if the effect was that it “slowed the decline” then it would be hard to know for sure that it was rapa doing that.
Do you have a preferred diet? normal omni, meat/fat heavy keto, lacto veg, pesco veg etc? TRE or fasting?
My diet is “natural foods” (avoid ultraprocessed, mostly make my food at home), avoid seed oils / fried foods, eat fish several times a week, probably not enough veg but I eat quite a lot of strawberries and blueberries.
I used to eat a lot of yogurt but I had to quit because it was giving me EoE (not formally diagnosed but that’s my very strong suspicion). Haven’t had any swallowing issues since I quit. My only dairy now is cheese which doesn’t give me any issues.
I do 16/8 intermittent fast because that’s very easy. Nothing between 8pm and lunch the next day. When I stay on that, there is a definite decrease in resting heart rate.
Addendum: I already don’t drink, don’t smoke, am not obese, have satisfactory blood pressure, and am not pre-diabetic. All I could do, per Dr. Hashmi’s advice, is eat more plants and less meat.
It’s not “somewhat cardioprotective”; it is cardioprotective and renoprotective. They are approved all around the world in non-diabetic people for heart failure and kidney disease.
I eat yogurt every morning as part of my breakfast. What is EoE?
EoE = eosinophilic esophagitis. It is inflammation of the esophagus that causes the esophagus to become narrower. You have trouble swallowing (feels like the food doesn’t go “all the way down” but is stuck just above the stomach). This leads to a lot of saliva production and frequently you barf up the food that is stuck. Common triggers are dairy, gluten, and eggs. In my case, I haven’t yet had an official diagnosis (which requires a biopsy) but not eating dairy has made the problem go away.
Yes, if we’re going to post numbers, everybody at least include the creatinine value, cystatin c (if tested), and either weight, height, gender, and age at the time of testing or the equation used to calc the result.
My numbers range from 84 to 118!
Last time I tested cystatin C: 2/2/2024
Cystatin C: 0.85
Creatinine: 1.09
Weight: 175 lbs
Height: 72in
Age:47
eGFR (LabCorp): 84
National Kidney Foundation Calculator surface area adjusted:
eGFR CKD-EPI creatinine (2021): 98
eGFR CKD-EPI creatinine-cystatin (2021): 112
eGFR CKD-EPI cystatin C (2012): 118
Egrf 85
Age 73
Raps 8mg/wk continuous 14wkks
