Which condition is most likely to cause dehydration, as reflected by laboratory values?

Which condition is most likely to cause dehydration, as reflected by laboratory values?

• A. Dehydration
• B. Reduced muscle mass
• C. Starvation
• D. Increased BUN

Answer: (A)

Dehydration is a deficit of body fluid that concentrates blood and urine solutes. When the body is short of water, the kidneys reabsorb more solutes like urea, raising the BUN level, and the BUN/creatinine ratio often increases. You also see higher hematocrit and concentrated urine with high specific gravity. Of the options, this state directly explains the lab pattern: the body’s fluid volume is low, so the laboratory values reflect hemoconcentration. Increased BUN by itself is a useful clue, but it’s a lab finding that accompanies dehydration rather than a separate condition that causes it. Reduced muscle mass and starvation don’t produce the same clear intravascular fluid deficit reflected by these labs. So the condition that best aligns with dehydration as shown by lab values is dehydration.

Dehydration is a deficit of body fluid that concentrates blood and urine solutes. When the body is short of water, the kidneys reabsorb more solutes like urea, raising the BUN level, and the BUN/creatinine ratio often increases. You also see higher hematocrit and concentrated urine with high specific gravity. Of the options, this state directly explains the lab pattern: the body’s fluid volume is low, so the laboratory values reflect hemoconcentration. Increased BUN by itself is a useful clue, but it’s a lab finding that accompanies dehydration rather than a separate condition that causes it. Reduced muscle mass and starvation don’t produce the same clear intravascular fluid deficit reflected by these labs. So the condition that best aligns with dehydration as shown by lab values is dehydration.