Albumin Test Price in Pakistan: Rs 455 at Marham Lab

Albumin is a protein made by your liver. MedlinePlus explains that it keeps the fluid part of your blood from leaking out of your blood vessels into other tissues, and that it also helps carry important substances around your body including hormones, vitamins and enzymes. An albumin blood test measures how much of it is in your blood. At Marham Lab it costs Rs 455, reduced from Rs 650.

Why Low Albumin Makes You Swell

This is the part that connects the number on the report to what people actually notice.

MedlinePlus states that if you do not have enough albumin, fluid can leak out of your blood and build up in your lungs, your abdomen, or other parts of your body. That is the mechanism behind a swollen belly in advanced liver disease and behind puffy ankles and legs in kidney disease.

So albumin is not an abstract laboratory value. It is the protein holding fluid inside your blood vessels, and when it falls the fluid goes somewhere else.

What It Is Used For

MedlinePlus says an albumin blood test is used to check your general health and nutrition, and to see how well your liver and kidneys are working. It explains both routes.

That second route is why albumin also appears in a urine test. If your doctor is looking for early kidney damage, the [urine albumin to creatinine ratio](/labs/tests/urine-acr-test-price) measures albumin leaking into urine rather than what remains in the blood. They answer different questions.

MedlinePlus adds that an albumin test may be used to monitor treatment for liver or kidney conditions.

Albumin, Total Protein and A/G Ratio

Three related items appear on Pakistani prescriptions and they are not the same line.

MedlinePlus notes an albumin test is often done as part of a group of blood tests measuring enzymes, proteins and other substances made in your liver, called [liver function tests](/labs/tests/lft-test-price) or a liver panel. It may also form part of a comprehensive metabolic panel.

Our LFT panel already contains albumin, total protein, globulins and the A/G ratio. If your doctor wrote LFT, do not book these separately as well. Book albumin on its own when a doctor has asked specifically to recheck that one value.

A Result Outside the Range Is Not Automatically a Problem

MedlinePlus is direct that an albumin blood test alone cannot diagnose a condition, and that your provider will usually consider it alongside other tests.

It then lists the ordinary things that move albumin without disease.

• Raise it: certain medicines including steroids, insulin and hormones
• Lower it: not having eaten for 24 to 48 hours, certain medicines including birth control pills
• Lower it: pregnancy. MedlinePlus states albumin levels are lower during pregnancy

A pregnant woman with a slightly low albumin, or someone who skipped meals before the test, has an explanation that has nothing to do with her liver.

What Low Albumin Can Mean

MedlinePlus lists the possibilities.

Higher than normal albumin points in a different direction entirely. MedlinePlus states it may be a sign of dehydration, which may be caused by severe diarrhoea or other conditions. That is worth knowing in Pakistan, where a high albumin during a bout of gastroenteritis usually reflects fluid loss rather than anything wrong with the liver.

Who Should Get Tested

MedlinePlus notes the test is often ordered as part of a routine checkup, usually inside a liver panel or metabolic panel, and also when you have symptoms of liver or kidney disease.

Symptoms of liver disease it lists: nausea and vomiting, lack of appetite, fatigue, weakness, jaundice which turns the skin and eyes yellow, swelling or pain in the abdomen, swelling in the ankles and legs, dark coloured urine or light coloured stool, and frequent itching.

Symptoms of kidney disease it lists: swelling in the hands and feet or puffy eyelids, dry skin, itching or numbness, fatigue, increased or decreased urination, urine that is bloody or foamy, loss of appetite and weight loss, muscle cramps, nausea and vomiting, shortness of breath, sleep problems, and trouble thinking clearly.

MedlinePlus adds an important caution: with some types of kidney disease, such as chronic kidney disease, you may not have symptoms until the later stages.

How to Prepare

MedlinePlus states you do not need any special preparations for an albumin blood test.

Two things still matter. If your provider ordered other blood tests at the same time, MedlinePlus notes you may need to fast for several hours, so read the whole prescription. And because not eating for 24 to 48 hours lowers albumin, an unusually long unplanned fast is worth mentioning rather than hiding.

MedlinePlus also says certain medicines affect results, so tell your provider what you take, and do not stop any medicine without speaking to your provider first.

What Happens During the Test

A trained phlebotomist takes a small blood sample from a vein in your arm using a small needle. MedlinePlus notes it usually takes less than five minutes and that you may feel a little sting as the needle goes in or out. There is very little risk beyond slight pain or bruising, which settles quickly. In Lahore the sample can be collected at your home at no extra cost.

اردو میں

البیومن ایک پروٹین ہے جو جگر بناتا ہے۔ اس کا سب سے اہم کام یہ ہے کہ یہ خون کے سیال حصے کو خون کی نالیوں سے باہر نکلنے سے روکتا ہے۔ اس کے علاوہ یہ ہارمون، وٹامن اور انزائم کو جسم میں ایک جگہ سے دوسری جگہ پہنچاتا ہے۔

اگر جسم میں البیومن کم ہو جائے تو سیال خون سے نکل کر پھیپھڑوں، پیٹ یا جسم کے دوسرے حصوں میں جمع ہونے لگتا ہے۔ یہی وجہ ہے کہ جگر کی شدید بیماری میں پیٹ پھول جاتا ہے اور گردوں کی بیماری میں ٹخنے اور پاؤں سوج جاتے ہیں۔

البیومن کم ہونے کی وجوہات میں جگر کی بیماری، گردوں کی بیماری، خوراک میں پروٹین کی کمی، انفیکشن، آنتوں کی بیماریاں، جلنے کے بڑے زخم، اور تھائیرائیڈ کے امراض شامل ہیں۔ البیومن زیادہ ہونے کا مطلب عام طور پر پانی کی کمی ہوتا ہے، جو شدید دستوں کی وجہ سے ہو سکتی ہے۔

ایک ضروری بات۔ رپورٹ غیر معمولی آنے کا مطلب ہمیشہ بیماری نہیں۔ اسٹیرائیڈ، انسولین اور کچھ ہارمون البیومن بڑھا دیتے ہیں۔ چوبیس سے اڑتالیس گھنٹے کچھ نہ کھانے سے، مانع حمل گولیوں سے، اور حمل کے دوران یہ کم ہو جاتا ہے۔ اکیلا البیومن ٹیسٹ کسی بیماری کی تشخیص نہیں کر سکتا۔

ایک اور بات یاد رکھیں۔ اگر ڈاکٹر نے ایل ایف ٹی لکھا ہے تو اس میں البیومن، ٹوٹل پروٹین اور اے جی ریشو پہلے سے شامل ہوتے ہیں، انہیں الگ سے کروانے کی ضرورت نہیں۔ ٹیسٹ سے پہلے بھوکا رہنے کی ضرورت نہیں۔ مرہم لیب میں اس ٹیسٹ کی قیمت چار سو پچپن روپے ہے اور لاہور میں گھر سے نمونہ لینے کی سہولت مفت ہے۔