What is Uric Acid test?

This test measures the amount of uric acid in your blood or urine. Uric acid is a normal waste product that's made when the body breaks down chemicals called purines.

What the Uric Acid test used for?

A uric acid test is most often used to:

• Help diagnose gout
• Help find the cause of frequent kidney stones
• Monitor the uric acid level of people undergoing certain cancer treatments. Chemotherapy and radiation therapy can cause high levels of uric acid to go into the blood.

How is the procedure performed?

A uric acid test can be done as a blood test or a urine test. A blood sample drawn from a vein in your arm. You may want to wear a shirt with sleeves that can easily be rolled up to make it easier to collect the blood sample. This usually takes less than five minutes. For a uric acid urine test, you'll need to collect all urine passed in a 24-hour period. This is called a 24-hour urine sample test. Your health care provider or a laboratory professional will give you a container to collect your urine and instructions on how to collect and store your samples. A 24-hour urine sample test generally includes the following steps:

• Empty your bladder in the morning and flush that urine away. Record the time.
• For the next 24 hours, save all your urine passed in the container provided.
• Store your urine container in the refrigerator or a cooler with ice.
• Return the sample container to your health provider's office or the laboratory as instructed.

What will be the results interprets?

However, the values may vary based on the lab doing the testing. According to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR), your target level of uric acid should be less than 6.0 mg/dL if you have gout. High uric acid levels in your blood can also indicate a variety of other causes, including:

• diabetes
• gout, which involves recurring attacks of acute arthritis
• chemotherapy
• bone marrow disorders, such as leukemia
• a diet high in purines
• hypoparathyroidism, which is a decrease in your parathyroid function
• kidney disorders, such as acute kidney failure
• kidney stones
• multiple myeloma, which is cancer of the plasma cells in your bone marrow
• metastasized cancer, which is cancer that’s spread from its original site

Low levels of uric acid in the blood may suggest:

• Wilson’s disease, which is an inherited disorder that causes copper to build up in your body tissues
• Fanconi syndrome, which is a kidney disorder most commonly caused by cystinosis
• alcoholism
• liver or kidney disease
• a diet low in purines