What Is Albumin Serum Test?
Proteins circulate throughout your blood to help your body keep fluid balance. Albumin is a kind of protein the liver produces. It’s one of the most abundant proteins in your blood.
You need a proper balance of albumin to keep fluid from leaking from blood vessels. Albumin likewise carries vital nutrients and hormonal agents, and offers your body with the proteins it has to preserve development and repair tissue.
A serum albumin test measures the amount of albumin in the blood. Irregular serum albumin levels might show that your kidneys or liver isn’t working properly. Your doctor can determine your albumin levels with a simple blood test and interpret what they suggest for your health.
Albumin can likewise be determined in the urine.
Albumin Blood Test in Details
How the Test is Performed
A blood sample is required.
How to Prepare for the Test
The healthcare provider might inform you to briefly stop taking particular medications that can affect the test. Drugs that can increase albumin levels include:
- Anabolic steroids
- Androgens
- Growth hormone
- Insulin
Do not stop taking any of your medications without speaking to your supplier first.
How the Test will Feel
When the needle is inserted to draw blood, some people feel moderate pain. Others feel just a prick or stinging.
Afterward, there may be some throbbing or a small bruise. This soon goes away.
Why the Test is Performed
Albumin assists move many small molecules through the blood, consisting of bilirubin, calcium, progesterone, and medicines. It plays a crucial function in keeping the fluid from the blood from leaking out into the tissues.
This test can help identify if a patient has liver disease or kidney disease, or if the body is not soaking up enough protein.
Normal Ranges of Albumin in Blood
The normal range is 3.4 to 5.4 g/dL.
Normal value varieties may differ a little among different labs. Some labs use various measurements or test different samples. Speak with your provider about the meaning of your particular test results.
High Level of of Albumin in Blood
A lower-than-normal level of blood albumin might be a sign of:
Decreased blood albumin may occur when your body does not get or absorb sufficient nutrients, such as with:.
- After weight-loss surgery.
- Crohn disease.
- Low-protein diets.
- Celiac disease.
- Whipple disease.
Increased blood albumin might be because of:
- Dehydration.
- High protein diet.
- Having a tourniquet on for a very long time when offering a blood sample.
Other conditions for which the test may be performed:
- Burns (widespread).
- Wilson disease.
If you are getting large amounts of intravenous fluids, the result of this test might be unreliable.
Albumin will be reduced during pregnancy.
Risks
There is little risk involved with having your blood taken. Veins and arteries differ in size from one patient to another and from one side of the body to the other. Taking blood from some people might be more difficult than from others.
Other risks related to having actually blood drawn are small, but might consist of:
- Bleeding from where the needle was placed.
- Fainting or feeling lightheaded.
- Hematoma (blood gathering under the skin).
- Infection (uncommon).
