Urine – What you need to know

Transcript

“The urine is produced 24-7, drains down pipes called ureters, and is stored in the bladder. When the bladder gets full, that’s when you have the urge to urinate. Amount. The normal amount of urine you make in a 24 hour period is about one to two liters. Color. The color should be clear or light yellow. If it’s dark or dark yellow, it may be a sign of dehydration. Smell. Make sure there’s no foul odor to your urine. If there is, it could be a sign of a urinary tract infection. And in which case, the urine may actually appear cloudy. Foam. When the urine hits the toilet water, does it foam up like a beer or a soda would? If it does, this may be a sign that there is protein in the urine. Other things to look out for, is there any blood in the urine?

Is it painful when I urinate? And do I see any sediment or little rocks coming out? That may be a sign of kidney stones. Remember, the first sign of kidney disease is likely going to be either blood or protein in the urine. And you have to remember that the more blood or protein in the urine, the more damage is being done to the kidney filter. When you do a urine test, you need to ask your doctor about these things. Blood. aAk the doctor if the urine is positive for blood. If it is, ask him how many RBCs, red blood cells, are in it. Normal RBCs are anywhere from 0 to 3 or 0 to 5 on a urinalysis. Protein. On the urinalysis, if there is protein in the urine, it will be listed at either 0, 1 plus, 2 plus, or 3 plus. For increasing amounts of protein detected in the urine. But if the urine is positive for protein, it would be best to quantify it. Meaning, how much there exactly is in it. Normal protein in the urine is usually less than 150 milligrams per day. You can quantify the protein in your urine with two additional tests. One, a quick spot urine protein – creatinine ratio, or two, collection of urine over 24 hours. That’s right. You gotta pee in a container for 24 hours, keep it on ice, then bring it to the lab. It’s more accurate, but it’s done less often.”