How to Measure Uric Acid

Uric acid is produced from the natural breakdown of your body's cells and from the foods you eat. It is normally filtered out by the kidneys and passes out of the body in urine. If too much uric acid is being produced or if the kidneys are not able to remove it from the blood normally, the level of uric acid in the blood increases.

If you suffer from gout or other conditions that affect levels, it is important to get your uric acid levels tested frequently. If you are taking medication, herbal or prescription, monitoring levels will help you assess dosage and effectiveness. You also need to ensure that you are maintaining healthy uric acid levels. Too much uric acid can worsen gout, while too little uric acid and neurological issues can occur.

Things You'll Need

• Clinic
• Health professional
• Needle
• Blood collection tube
• Lab

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Instructions

• 1

  Visit your doctor or the health professional who you see regularly. Depending on the clinic, your doctor will be able to take a blood sample in-house or send you to an associated lab.

• 2

  Tell your doctor about all the nonprescription and prescription medicines you take. These things can affect the measured level and need to be recorded. Other things that can affect levels are excessive alcohol usage, starvation, a high-protein diet and strenuous exercise.

• 3

  Wait for the lab to examine the collected sample. Depending on the lab, results will normally be ready in one to two days. Ask your lab how long they expect it to take. If you have not heard from them within the given timeframe, call to check on the results.

• 4

  Analyze results. This should be done with your healthcare provider, to help you fully understand what your results mean. According to Mosby's Manual of Diagnostic and Laboratory Tests, normal levels for men are anywhere between 3.4-7.0 mg/dL and for woman between 2.4--6.0 mg/dL.