Urine test can detect kidney disease, diabetes, microhematuria, etc.
Urine is the blood that circulates throughout the body and is collected in the bladder after waste products are filtered out by the kidneys and then excreted. Because it has passed through every corner of the body, the health of major organs can be exposed through urine. Taking a good look at my urine helps to detect a serious illness early. Even in the bathroom, pay attention to urine color or bubbles, and if you feel any abnormalities, it is good to do a urine test.
◆ Sudden dark brown or red urine… Pancreatic cancer with jaundice, suspected liver cancer
Dark urine can be a sign that your body is dehydrated. However, there are cases where it becomes dark brown or red. Jaundice should be suspected if the skin is itchy and the whites of the eyes and skin become yellow. The color of the stool may also change to white or gray. Jaundice is one of the most common symptoms of pancreatic cancer as well as liver disease. If the urine color changes significantly, you should suspect jaundice and seek medical attention at the hospital (internal medicine) by examining the color of your skin and stool. It can also be a symptom of liver or pancreatic cancer.
◆ If you have a lot of foam in your urine and your body often swells… possibility of kidney disease
If your kidneys are failing, your urine may foam and become darker and turn red. Waste products are not filtered out by the kidneys. Proteinuria should be suspected if the urine bubbles are small and numerous, and the bubbles do not disappear after several minutes. If the amount of protein excreted in the urine per day is more than 150 mg, it is classified as proteinuria. If your body is often swollen, you should suspect kidney disease.
◆ There are no symptoms even if the kidneys deteriorate… If detected late, difficult dialysis treatment is required
The kidney, like the liver, is a ‘silent organ’. Even if kidney function is severely impaired, it is common that no symptoms are felt. If it is found in the state of chronic kidney disease (chronic renal failure), which progressed slowly without knowing it, demanding dialysis treatment is required. There are not a few people who feel the symptoms and go to the hospital only when end-stage renal failure occurs. At the free national health checkup, blood pressure, blood creatinine, etc. can be checked to find out the glomerular filtration rate and urine proteinuria. Don’t skip the checkup just because it’s annoying, and be sure to check the numbers.
◆ Although invisible to the naked eye… If microhematuria is present
Kidney disease, urinary-bladder infections, cancer, and stones can cause hematuria, which is blood in the urine. This can be observed with the naked eye. However, there may be microscopic hematuria that is not visible to the naked eye. Glomerulonephritis, which is a problem with the kidneys, also starts with microhematuria. If left untreated, it may develop into chronic kidney disease and require dialysis or kidney transplantation. Since there are no symptoms in the early stages, it is good to take a good look at whether hematuria is detected by urinalysis.
◆ The habit of observing my urine is important… Yellow urine after taking nutritional supplements
I didn’t drink a lot of water or coffee in the evening, but I wake up and urinate more than twice. This, too, could be a sign of kidney disease or an enlarged prostate. Older men are at higher risk of prostate abnormalities. The yellow urine after eating nutrients is because the raw material of ‘riboflavin’, a vitamin B2, is yellow. Depending on the content, it may not affect urine color. If you have a habit of observing your urine, you can detect the disease early. The same goes for feces. It would be difficult if I didn’t even look at what came out of my body as dirty.