be a cascade of changes involving the parathyroid glands, bones, and muscles.
This is one reason advanced chronic kidney disease can be associated with abnormalities in mineral metabolism and muscle function.
## The Kidney-Muscle Connection Is Also About Waste
Your muscles continuously produce metabolic waste.
One of the best-known examples is creatinine.
Creatinine is produced from normal muscle metabolism and is released into the bloodstream. Healthy kidneys filter creatinine and remove it through urine.
Because creatinine production is related partly to muscle mass, blood creatinine is commonly used as one marker when assessing kidney function.
This creates an interesting two-way relationship.
Muscles contribute to creatinine production.
The kidneys remove creatinine.
When kidney filtration declines, creatinine tends to accumulate in the blood.
But the relationship is not perfectly straightforward.
A person with very little muscle mass may have a relatively
