Observe your urine to see your health status
Experts explain that abnormal urine output mainly manifests as oliguria, polyuria, and increased nocturia:
Oliguria: refers to a total urine output of less than 400 ml per day. In children, a urine output of less than 0.8 ml/hour/kg of body weight also indicates oliguria. Anuria is defined as a urine output of less than 50-100 ml per day.
Oliguria or anuria is mainly seen in acute renal failure caused by various reasons, including prerenal, renal, and postrenal acute renal failure. Decreased blood volume and insufficient renal blood perfusion, such as severe diarrhea or vomiting, blood loss or massive fluid loss, heart failure, or renal vascular embolism, are common causes of prerenal renal failure; renal failure is mostly caused by various severe glomerular, tubular, and interstitial diseases; postrenal failure often occurs in patients with mechanical obstruction, such as benign prostatic hyperplasia, stones, and tumors.
Polyuria: Polyuria is defined as a 24-hour urine output exceeding 3000 ml, often occurring after psychological or compulsive water intake. Insufficient secretion of antidiuretic hormone (ADH) by the pituitary gland can lead to central diabetes insipidus. Nephrological diabetes insipidus is also a common condition in adults. Common causes include improper use of diuretics, metabolic disorders such as diabetes mellitus, hypercalcemia, and hypokalemia, chronic kidney diseases such as renal tubular acidosis and chronic tubulointerstitial disease, or congenital unresponsiveness or low responsiveness of renal tubular epithelial cells to ADH. Some cases of polyuria are caused by solute-induced diuresis, such as glycosuria or excessively high urea concentrations. Polyuria may also occur after urinary tract obstruction is relieved, in the early stages of kidney transplantation, or during the recovery period from acute renal failure.
Frequent urination at night: Unless you drink a lot of water at night, a normal person's daytime urine output is greater than their nighttime urine output. If the total urine output from 6 PM to 6 AM the next morning is greater than the daytime urine output, it is called increased nocturia. This condition is common in people with chronic kidney dysfunction and requires serious treatment.
Four aspects should be observed in the appearance and odor of urine:
Hematuria: Normal urine contains only a small number of red blood cells, which are not visible to the naked eye. If the urine is like meat-washing water, it is called gross hematuria. In severe cases, blood clots may be visible. Hematuria is commonly seen in urinary tract infections, parenchymal kidney diseases, and urinary tract tumors.
Increased foaming: This is commonly seen when there is an increase in solutes in the urine, such as proteinuria.
Odor: Urine from patients with urinary tract infections may smell like ammonia, while urine from patients with diabetic ketoacidosis may have a fruity aroma.
Abnormal urine color: Many diseases, medications, and foods can cause changes in urine color. For example, rifampin can cause red urine, hemoglobinuria or myoglobinuria results in red wine-colored urine, and lymphatic system diseases can cause chyluria, which is often milky white. Some patients have dark tea-colored urine; if this is accompanied by yellowing of the eyes, it indicates jaundice, and liver function tests should be performed.
Experts emphasize that urine volume, color, appearance, and accompanying symptoms during urination are important diagnostic criteria for doctors. Early detection of these signals can aid in the early discovery of diseases, leading to more effective treatment.
