As you might know from healthcare providers asking for a urine sample, your urine holds many clues about your health. Some of these clues—such as bacteria, glucose, drugs or blood cells in your urine—can only be discovered through a urinalysis, which only your doctor can perform. But there are some signs you can see for yourself whenever you go to the bathroom.
Call your doctor right away if you see blood in your urine. It could be caused by something fairly harmless, like hard exercise or medication. Or it may be a sign of something more serious like kidney disease, an enlarged prostate, bladder cancer, or urinary tract infecton and/or STD.
colour
Some foods and medicines can change the color of your pee. For example, beets can make it reddish or dark brown, asparagus can make it green, and carrots can turn it orange. Certain antacids can turn your pee a shade of blue, and some chemotherapy medicines can make it orange. Sometimes an unusual color can be a sign of a health problem. Talk to your doctor if your pee suddenly changes color and you are not sure why.
Smell
Foods, vitamins, and medication can all change the way your pee smells. For example, asparagus causes an ammonia-like odor for some people. Your pee also may smell stronger if you do not drink enough water or you take vitamin B-6 supplements. But some health conditions can do it, too. Diabetes, bladder infections, kidney infections, and liver failure can all change the way your pee smells. Talk to your doctor if there is a sudden change and it does not go away.
Urinary Tract Infection (UTI)
If you have one of these, your pee may be red or brownish or have spots of red in it. Or it might be green or cloudy and have a strong smell. UTIs usually happen because bacteria has gotten into your bladder or your urethra, the tube that carries pee out of your body. If you have burning when you urinate, your doctor can test a sample of your urine to find out if you have one. If you do, it can be treated with antibiotics.
Hyperglycemia
This is when you have too much sugar (glucose) in your blood. High levels of glucose also can show up in your urine. You can not tell by looking at it, but your doctor can check by testing a sample. It can be a sign of diabetes. Over time, diabetes can lead to heart disease, stroke, kidney disease, blindness, and other problems.
Diabetes
If your doctor thinks you might have diabetes, they might test to see if you have things called ketones in your blood and urine. Your body makes these when it starts to break down fat for energy because it can not use sugar for energy like it should. Ketones are elevated in diabetic ketoacidosis, which are a medical emergency.
Dehydration
If your pee looks dark and you are not going as often as usual, that could mean you do not have enough water in your body. You also might feel tired, nauseated, or groggy. Your doctor may test a sample of your urine to see how concentrated it is
Pregnancy
A chemical strip from a drugstore pregnancy kit can test a womans urine for a hormone that will only be there if they are pregnant (it is called human chorionic gonadotropin or hCG). The results are most likely to be accurate 5 to 10 days after a missed period.
Diabetic Kidney Disease
Foamy pee can mean you have more protein in your urine than normal. This is often the earliest sign of this disease, which is the leading cause of kidney failure. It damages your kidneys small blood vessels. That leads your body to hold on to more salt, water, and waste in your blood than it should. Your doctor can test your urine for a protein called albumin to find out if you have it.
