Have you ever wondered how much time you spend in the bathroom to urinate? It is simple: we spend four months of our lives to do it! For your knowledge (and curiosity) these are the average data considering 2 months for men and 6 months for women. Why, when you do a complete check-up, urinalysis are frequently included? The reason is obvious!
Urine analysis is an extremely important factor because urine can be considered as the "last step" of many physiological processes. Usually the urine is of a straw yellow color and it is usually clear. Every analytical value of this fluid may give us some idea about the health of his "producer". Alteration of these values can be due also to drugs or foods.
If you consider, as example, its color as reference value, an orange color may indicate that there are liver damages (strong presence of bilirubin and urobilinogen), a deep red is due to blood (a situation known as hematuria), a green color indicates a serious problem of jaundice or high levels of certain drugs (such as salicylic acid). Curiously, a pink color can be observed even after eating rhubarb or beets.
Another parameter is the biochemical composition. The presence of red blood cells is called hematuria. Glycosuria is the presence of sugar in the urine, often linked to diabetes. Proteinuria, in other words an high presence of protein in the urine, is instead associated with liver or, in some cases, heart problems.
Also the smell of urine, usually characteristic, can be used for a diagnosis. A foul odor may be associated with urinary tract infections. A sweet smell was due to ketoacidosis, typical of prolonged fasting.
Not always, however, this parameter is indicative of the disease: those who have never experienced the typical smell of urine after eating asparagus?
Urine analysis is an extremely important factor because urine can be considered as the "last step" of many physiological processes. Usually the urine is of a straw yellow color and it is usually clear. Every analytical value of this fluid may give us some idea about the health of his "producer". Alteration of these values can be due also to drugs or foods.
If you consider, as example, its color as reference value, an orange color may indicate that there are liver damages (strong presence of bilirubin and urobilinogen), a deep red is due to blood (a situation known as hematuria), a green color indicates a serious problem of jaundice or high levels of certain drugs (such as salicylic acid). Curiously, a pink color can be observed even after eating rhubarb or beets.
Another parameter is the biochemical composition. The presence of red blood cells is called hematuria. Glycosuria is the presence of sugar in the urine, often linked to diabetes. Proteinuria, in other words an high presence of protein in the urine, is instead associated with liver or, in some cases, heart problems.
Also the smell of urine, usually characteristic, can be used for a diagnosis. A foul odor may be associated with urinary tract infections. A sweet smell was due to ketoacidosis, typical of prolonged fasting.
Not always, however, this parameter is indicative of the disease: those who have never experienced the typical smell of urine after eating asparagus?
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