Publications. HealthPOWER! is an award winning, quarterly publication from the VHA National Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, highlighting health promotion and disease prevention activities in VA.
The more muscle a person has, the more creatinine they produce. Levels of creatinine in the blood reflect both the amount of muscle a person has and their amount of kidney function. Most men with normal kidney function have approximately 0.6 to 1.2 milligrams/deciliters (mg/dL) of creatinine. Most women with normal kidney function have between 0.5 to 1.1 mg/dL of creatinine. Women usually have lower creatinine levels than men because women, on average, have less muscle than men. Other factors that may affect the level of creatinine in the blood include body size, activity level and medications.
If kidney function begins to decline, BUN and creatinine rise. A normal creatinine depends on muscle mass and age. In general, a normal creatine is 0.5 to 1.2 milligrams per deciliter (mg/dL). A normal BUN is 7 to 20 mg/dL. Remember that different laboratories use different testing equipment, and may have slightly different ranges for normal. A small, temporary increase in either BUN or creatinine can occur during illness or dehydration; the numbers usually return to normal during recovery.