Hypoalbuminemia is a condition where your body doesn’t produce enough albumin protein. This protein keeps fluid in your blood vessels and moves substances like hormones around your body. You may develop hypoalbuminemia if you have heart disease, kidney disease or other health issues. Treatment involves managing the underlying condition.
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Hypoalbuminemia, or low albumin levels in your blood, affects your body’s ability to manage body fluids. Albumin is a protein that keeps fluid inside your blood vessels. It also transports vitamins, enzymes and hormones throughout your body. Hypoalbuminemia happens when your body doesn’t produce enough albumin, or you lose unusually large amounts of it when you pee or poop. This condition is often a symptom of health issues like heart failure and kidney disease.
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The condition may cause symptoms that include:
A surgical wound infection may affect your albumin levels. Infection symptoms include fever and thick, cream-colored or white discharge from the surgery site.
Hypoalbuminemia is a symptom of many different medical issues. Underlying conditions that can cause it include:
Receiving certain treatments while you’re in the hospital may increase your risk of developing hypoalbuminemia. Treatments that may increase risk include surgery, receiving fluids via an intravenous line, or needing to use a ventilator or cardiopulmonary bypass machine.
Your healthcare provider may do blood tests and urine tests:
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Your healthcare provider may do a microalbuminuria test to check for albumin in your pee. They may do a urine-albumin creatinine ratio (uARC) test to look for kidney damage.
Your treatment will depend on why you have low albumin levels. For example, conditions like heart disease and malnutrition may affect your albumin levels. You may work with a nutritionist to plan meals that support heart health and manage malnutrition.
Other potential treatments include:
Talk to a healthcare provider if you have symptoms like changes in the color of your pee, losing weight without trying or swelling in your legs and feet. These are symptoms of health issues that can lead to hypoalbuminemia.
Visit the emergency room or call 911 immediately if you have heart issue symptoms, like shortness of breath, difficulty breathing or your heart starts beating fast.
Treatment to manage the underlying condition may increase your albumin levels. More importantly, treatment may manage or cure the condition that causes low albumin levels.
Many conditions may affect your albumin levels. Your healthcare provider may consider hypoalbuminemia a warning sign for other issues. They’ll do tests to learn why your albumin levels are low. Your test results may be the first time you learn about a health issue. But results that pinpoint a problem may lead to treatment to manage an underlying condition and, as a bonus, boost your albumin levels.
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Last reviewed on 10/22/2025.
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