Common Causes of Proteinuria

Protein in urine, or proteinuria as it called in medical parlance, is a condition where a patient’s urine samples show excess protein. It is essential to identify the presence or absence of protein while carrying out tests to analyze an individual’s urine. Finding low levels of protein in the urine is normal. If the level of protein is temporarily high as per the urine analysis, then even that can be classified as usual, especially in younger people who take the test after an exercise session or when they are suffering from an illness.

A patient’s kidneys filter waste products from their blood while keeping the items required by their body such as proteins. However, some diseases and conditions allow proteins to pass through the filters of one’s kidneys, leading to a rise in the protein levels in one’s urine. Some conditions like dehydration, emotional stress, constant exposure to cold temperatures, and fever can cause a temporary rise in the levels of protein in the urine. A lot of strenuous exercises can also be harmful. However, not all of them indicate kidney damage

Causes
Among the many diseases and conditions that have the potential to cause persistently elevated levels of protein in the urine, we’ve listed a few common ones. These causes may lead to or indicate kidney disease.

• Amyloidosis: It is the build-up of abnormal proteins in one’s organs.
• Medication: Consuming certain types of medicines such as non-steroidal and anti-inflammatory medication can cause imbalances in the body. These medicines act as a catalyst and increase the amount of protein in the urine.
• Chronic kidney disease: It is a very common reason because it indicates a malfunction and thus leads to the presence of protein in one’s urine samples.
• Diabetes: Diabetes continually affects the chemical composition of the patient’s urine.
• Endocarditis: It is an infection of the inner lining of the heart.
• IgA nephropathy: Commonly known as the Berger’s disease, this illness causes kidney inflammation due to a build-up of the antibody immunoglobulin. All of this results in increased protein levels in a patient’s urine samples.
• Kidney infection: Also called pyelonephritis, this condition also affects the protein levels in the urine.
• Malaria: It changes the composition of the blood.
• Nephrotic syndrome: It causes severe damage to small filtering blood vessels inside the kidneys.
• Orthostatic proteinuria: This condition can cause a rise in the urine’s protein levels when the patient is in an upright position.
• Rheumatoid arthritis: It is commonly known as the inflammatory joint disease and can cause elevated levels of protein in one’s urine.