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Hypoalbuminemia is a condition where levels of the protein albumin are abnormally low, often caused by chronic or acute health problems. Symptoms may include swelling, poor appetite, muscle weakness, and fatigue. Treatment depends on the underlying cause and cannot be corrected by simply prescribing an albumin supplement.
Albumin is one of the most important proteins used in the human body. This essential protein makes up about 60 percent of the proteins in blood plasma, where it serves as a transport molecule for other molecules carried in the blood. Hypoalbuminemia is a condition in which levels of this protein are abnormally low. It often affects people with chronic or acute health problems such as liver disease, heart failure, and kidney disease. Additionally, inadequate dietary protein intake can reduce blood albumin levels.
Blood albumin levels are regulated by several processes. These include the production of the protein in the liver, the amount of protein secreted by the liver, the amount of protein in body fluids other than blood, and the rate at which the protein is degraded. Dysfunction in one or more of these processes can result in hypoalbuminemia.
Hypoalbuminemia is generally not considered a medical condition in itself, but a possible side effect of other health problems. For example, liver disease can cause this condition because albumin is synthesized in the liver. When liver cells die due to disease, the liver’s ability to produce albumin is reduced. Albumin can also be lost through the kidneys in kidney disease, because these organs normally filter albumin out of the kidneys so that the protein can be recycled. Diseases such as tuberculosis and inflammatory bowel disease can reduce albumin levels in the blood due to chronic inflammation.
Many people with low blood albumin are asymptomatic; symptoms often do not appear except in cases of moderate to severe disease. Possible symptoms of hypoalbuminemia include swelling of the whole body or swelling in one or more parts of the body such as the legs, hands or face. People with this condition might have a poor appetite, muscle weakness, muscle cramps, or fatigue. Other symptoms depend on the underlying cause of the low blood albumin levels.
Low blood albumin levels cannot be corrected by simply prescribing an albumin supplement to raise blood levels of the protein. In fact, some studies indicate that it may even be harmful to give albumin as part of your treatment. The optimal treatment for people with hypoalbuminemia depends on the cause of the condition. Low blood albumin levels are treated by managing the cause. Therefore, a patient being treated for this condition might see a surgeon, nephrologist, cardiologist, or other type of doctor, depending on the cause.
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