What does uraemia mean?
Uraemia is a medical noun denoting the accumulation of urea in the blood, most often occurring when the kidneys cannot adequately remove nitrogenous waste. The condition is especially associated with advanced kidney failure, and its symptoms can include nausea, fatigue, confusion, and itching. Uraemia is therefore more specific than the everyday expression “blood poisoning”: it identifies a particular biochemical disturbance rather than any general illness caused by toxins in the blood. In British English the usual spelling is uraemia; US English generally uses uremia, although both names refer to the same disorder. The word belongs mainly to clinical and formal medical usage, while uraemic is used to describe a person or condition affected by it. Older writing sometimes employed the term more broadly for blood poisoning, but its established modern meaning is the buildup of urea associated with impaired kidney function. The term is useful because it links a familiar substance, urea, to a serious consequence of reduced renal clearance and reminds readers that kidney disease can affect many systems of the body.
nounThe accumulation of urea in the blood, usually as a consequence of severe kidney dysfunction or failure.
- The accumulation of urea in the blood, typically resulting from severely impaired kidney function.
- Archaic: a general condition of blood poisoning.
"The patient was admitted with severe kidney failure and uraemia."
"Blood tests confirmed uraemia and severe impairment of kidney function."
"In older medical writing, uraemia was sometimes used as a general term for blood poisoning."
The regular plural is uncommon; uraemia is usually used as an uncountable medical term.
"The report documented uraemias following acute kidney injury."
Uraemia literally signals “urea in the blood,” sharply linking impaired kidney function with a disturbance in blood chemistry.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does uraemia come from?
Uraemia was formed in English from urea and the Greek haima, meaning “blood.” The element urea itself comes ultimately from Greek ouron, meaning “urine.” The name therefore expresses the condition’s central idea: the presence of an excessive amount of urea in the blood.
Related word forms
How uraemia is actually used
This is chiefly a clinical and formal medical term. British English generally uses uraemia, while US English generally uses uremia. Its older, broader sense for blood poisoning is now chiefly historical.
Easily confused with uraemia
Uremia is the usual US spelling of the same medical condition that is written uraemia in British English.
Anaemia is a deficiency of red blood cells or haemoglobin, whereas uraemia is the accumulation of urea in the blood.