URINE OSMOLALITY IN A POPULATION STUDY OF HYPERTENSION

  • 1 January 1964
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 31  (3) , 345-+
Abstract
High blood pressure occurs in the majority of cases of chronic kidney disease, while renal damage is common in the more advanced cases of essential hypertension. In a population study of hypertensive disease, therefore, it is important to provide information on renal function. Determination of plasma creatinine concentration fails as a screening test since a normal or nearly normal plasma creatinine value does not necessarily exclude severe reduction of filtration ability. The specific gravity is the most widely used index of the concentration power of the kidneys. The disadvantage of this method is that considerable variation of specific gravity may occur in urines of like osmolality. In a sample of 855 50-year-old men selected at random, the authors of this article have correlated the lowered osmolality of an early morning urine specimen with hypertension. Renal involvement and/or altered rhythm of water and solute excretion can be the cause of lowered osmolality. The determination of the concentration of early morning urine samples has a legitimate place in population studies of cardiovascular diseases. A method of determining urine osmolality is described that requires relatively simple equipment and gives results with a small standard error.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: