High Uric Acid and Urea: What They Mean

Your blood test came back with uric acid or urea flagged in red and no explanation beyond a number. It is a very common situation: most of the time there is a simple explanation, but it helps to understand what each value measures.

Uric acid: the end product of purine metabolism, found in red meat, shellfish, organ meats and beer. Persistently high levels can be linked to gout, and also appear with purine-rich diets, obesity, alcohol, diuretics, dehydration and kidney disease.

Urea: mainly reflects how the kidneys are working, and is influenced by hydration, protein intake and metabolism. A mildly raised value with normal creatinine is usually not significant, especially after dehydration.

• Common causes of high uric acid: purine-rich diets, alcohol, obesity, dehydration, diuretics and kidney disease.
• What you can do: cut back on red meat, shellfish and alcohol, drink enough water and repeat the test; there is no need to treat the number itself.
• When it matters: very high values, attacks of joint pain (especially the big toe), kidney stones, or urea raised together with high creatinine.
• When to see a doctor: if high values repeat across two tests, if you have symptoms, or if you take medication that affects them.
• Emergency (112): joint pain with fever, severe kidney pain with blood in the urine, or persistent vomiting need urgent in-person assessment.

If your blood tests were done at a Spanish laboratory and the explanations are only in Spanish, a video consultation lets a physician walk you through the results in your own language and decide whether more testing is needed, where clinically appropriate following a genuine evaluation. You can book a video consultation or read our blood testing in Spain guide. This service is for urgent, non-emergency care; in an emergency, call 112.