Doctors refer to protein content in urine exceeding 150 mg per day as abnormal urinary protein content, which is an abnormal phenomenon. Sometimes protein levels only rise temporarily and then go back down on their own, but if the problem persists or is severe, you should seek medical attention. Excess protein in the urine for several days is often a sign of underlying kidney disease or other medical problems.

Try to Make Lifestyle Changes and Get Treatment

Take steps to lower your blood pressure. Ways to lower blood pressure through lifestyle changes include:

• Reduce salt in your diet. To do this, use less salt when cooking food at home. A more important point is not to eat out too often and not to eat too much-processed food, as it is known that the average salt content of these foods is much higher than that of food cooked at home.
• reduce cholesterol. Cholesterol accumulation can cause plaque to form in the arteries, which can lead to increased blood pressure. Ask your doctor to check your blood and measure your fat and cholesterol levels to see if your diet should be improved in this area.

If you are diagnosed with kidney disease or kidney dysfunction, your doctor will usually recommend medication. Kidney problems are the main cause of persistently elevated proteinuria. Specifically, doctors will prescribe “ACE inhibitors,” a type of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor. Such drugs include ramipril, captopril, and lisinopril. These antihypertensive drugs have additional benefits and “protective effects” on the kidneys.

• If you are not already taking this medication, ask your doctor if you can prescribe it.
• If kidney disease is more severe, you may need to take multiple blood pressure medications.

For example, if your kidney problems are caused by an autoimmune disease that causes high protein in your urine, you may need medication to suppress your immune system. If kidney problems and proteinuria are complications of diabetes, you may need to take metformin or insulin to control your daily blood sugar levels. Many underlying diseases may cause kidney problems and lead to high proteinuria. Please consult your doctor and let him develop the most appropriate control plan based on your specific situation.

Assessing the Rationale

Only by diagnosing the underlying cause can you know how to reduce the amount of protein in your urine or treat it. Because high proteinuria is not a disease in itself, rather, it is a symptom that something else is wrong with your body. The problem of elevated urinary protein can best be addressed and dealt with only if the “other problem” is diagnosed and treated.

Determine which type of “proteinuria” you have. There are three types of proteinuria, two of which require no treatment and will resolve on their own over time. The third, however, requires a more comprehensive examination to determine the root cause. The three types of proteinuria are:

• Transient proteinuria. If a urine test shows an increase in protein but then decreases until the level eventually returns to normal, the proteinuria is transient. Transient proteinuria is often associated with acute stress, such as an illness that causes fever, or a sudden increase in exercise, such as marathon training. After the stress state has passed, or the body has adapted, protein levels will return to normal values.
• Orthostatic proteinuria. If abnormal protein levels are associated with changes in body position, such as from standing to sitting or from sitting to lying down, then the proteinuria is orthostatic. Orthostatic proteinuria is uncommon, mostly occurs in adolescents, and usually does not require treatment. In the vast majority of patients, symptoms resolve on their own in adulthood.
• Persistent proteinuria. Persistent proteinuria refers to protein levels in the urine that remain high on repeated tests. It indicates an underlying problem in the body, such as kidney disease, diabetes, autoimmune disease, or other conditions. People with persistent proteinuria need a series of tests to diagnose the problem and receive medical treatment.

Assess your current temporary stress state. As mentioned earlier, if you are sick and have a fever, increase your physical activity, or have other acute stressors in your life, urinary protein may temporarily increase due to these factors. In this case, you should see your doctor again in a few days for another urine test. At this point, your doctor can determine if your protein levels have dropped and are hopefully back to normal. If you suffer from “transient proteinuria,” the good news is that you don’t need any treatment and your urine protein levels will return to normal on their own within a few days to a few weeks.

• Note that if you are experiencing fever, exercise, or other “acute stressors,” you should still see your doctor and have your urine tested again to make sure there is no more serious problem.

It is critical to have repeat urine tests. This is because you need to obtain several sets of urine protein test results to see its changing trend and whether it has a tendency to fall back on its own. Your doctor may ask you to collect a urine sample in the hospital bathroom, or you may be asked to take the kit home and collect the urine sample before returning it to the hospital. Note that if you collect urine at home, you will need to keep the urine sample in the refrigerator until it is sent to the hospital for formal analysis.

Other diagnostic tests your doctor may perform include blood tests, especially if he or she suspects you may have underlying kidney disease or other health problems. If your doctor orders a blood test, your blood and urine nitrogen (BUN) and creatinine values may be tested. Both are kidney function tests that can provide doctors with valuable information about kidney health.

• If your doctor suspects you have an underlying autoimmune disease, he or she may also order other blood tests, such as a test for glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA1c, a diabetes test), or a test for autoimmune antibodies.
• This will depend on your medical history and what your doctor thinks you are most likely to have.

In some cases, the doctor will order a further kidney biopsy to determine the cause of protein in the urine. This is a rare condition, and doctors order this test when they can’t determine the cause.

Note that high levels of protein in urine during pregnancy need to be treated separately. If you’re pregnant and your protein levels are elevated, it could be due to a condition called preeclampsia. Ask your doctor or professional for more information.