Urinary Health Education

The urinary system isn't usually looked at as the most important system in the body, but without the ability to properly remove waste, our bodies would keep the harmful materials that need to be removed through peeing and we would quickly be poisoned by all the bad chemicals in our bodies.

Importance of the Kidneys

The kidneys are a vital organ because they help filter out waste from our bodies. It is important to keep the kidneys healthy as there are many things that can cause long-term damage to the kidneys. Diabetes, which is a rising problem in the U.S and the world, is particularly damaging to the kidneys and can often lead to renal failure. Take a look at our article about possible causes and diagnosis of kidney pain.

Understand Urine Colors

Urine colors can tell you a lot about your urinary system health and the health of your urine. Lean about different pee colors and how to ensure healthy pee and well-functioning kidneys. White urine is probably a sign that the urine had not had enough time to sit in the bladder and absorb other chemicals. It is likely that those fluids simply went through your body very fast. Yellow urine is the normal color of urine. The yellow is caused by a chemical called Urobilin. Orange urine can be a sign of dehydration or something that is more common in the mornings since the urine has time to sit for a long time in the bladder. Brown or red urine may indicate presence of blood. Cloudy urine can be a sign of metabolism issues where the body is not processing some chemicals correctly.

We made this site with the hope of increasing education in the space of Urology and bring attention to common health issues that everyone would benefit from knowing about. Learn about urination, urinary tract and causes of blood in pee. Hematuria the condition of having blood in pee. Hematuria may be a sign of a serious urinary tract disease or even a symptom of urinary tract cancer. Blood in urine (Hematuria) can be from bleeding caused by bladder or kidney diseases, urinary infections or many other factors that affect pee and peeing. Red pee is concerning and you may want to do a urinalysis test.

Unusual Urine Colors

Often, people experience strange urine colors that can be psychologically disconcerting, but the substance making the urine an unusual color is quite harmless. Beeturia is a condition that makes the urine appear bloody, but the pink color in the urine is simply the excess beets that the body is trying to remove as waste. Another very unusual color of urine that can occur is purple urine from something called the Purple Urine Bag Syndrome. Purple urine occurs in somewhat rare cases in people with urinary catheters and co-existent urinary tract infection.

Micturition - Feeling the Need to Urinate

Micturition is the body's signal that it is time to remove the waste that the kidneys have removed from the blood system, and stored in the bladder to a level that is reaching a limit and the body is signaling that the bladder must be emptied. Antidiuretic hormone (ADH) and aldosterone are responsible for controlling the amount of produced urine. ADH is responsible for decreasing urine production in case the body is experiencing dehydration.

Bladder

The bladder is a very important organ. It holds urine. If we didn't have a bladder, we would just be constantly dripping urine, which is a very strange kind of thing to imagine. That is actually what happens to people who have urinary incontinence and can not retain their urine. There are a few ways to help keep the bladder healthy. The most important thing to keep in mind is to urinate when you have to and have a full bladder. This will decrease your chances of developing bladder infections and possible inflammation as the bacteria in the urine that is in the bladder will not have much time to multiply while still in the bladder.

Bladder pain can often be symptomatic of urinary tract problems like Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs), Interstitial Cystitis (IC), or even bladder cancer. Of course, the bladder is located in such a part of the body that simply feeling pain in the general area of the bladder might not tell very much about the real cause of the problem.

Synthetic Urine

Synthetic urine is the artificial substance that copies look, characteristics and chemical compound of human urine. But even though it looks like urine, it is not real and is simply a laboratory creation. Researchers often use synthetic urine for drug tests as it is a more convenient form of urine for testing than real urine since real urine is much more delicate in nature and must be preserved by by freezing during shipping, and has a really rapid decay rate. Additionally, human urine donors can be problematic as well since their pee may not be healthy or suitable for various tests. Please take a look at our page about synthetic urine in order to understand more about it.

Other Urinary Tract Problems of Note

• Vesicoureteral Reflux - a urinary tract problem common in children and can carry over to adulthood. Patients with Vesicoureteral Reflux experience an abnormal flow of urine from the ureters back the the bladder, which is the opposite of normal direction
• Pyuria - excessive Leukocytes, also called white blood cells (WBC) in urine
• Proteinuria - condition of having excessive protein levels in urine
• Prostatitis - male urinary problem of prostate gland inflammation
• Polyuria - condition of frequent urination
• Polycystic Kidneys - cysts that form in the kidneys and lead to decreased function by the kidneys and other complications
• Phosphaturia - excessive presence of phosphorus during micturition
• Oliguria - condition of decreased urine production to less than 500 mL/day in adults
• Nocturia - unusually frequent urination at night
• Melanuria - condition of having dark colors in urine such as orange, amber, black, or dark brown
• Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) - a metabolic disorder that causes urine to smell like maple syrup
• Kidney stones - stones that sometimes block the urinary tract
• Kidney (renal) failure - condition when kidneys completely stop to function
• Interstitial Cystitis - chronic inflammation of the bladder wall
• Cholangitis - infection of the common bile duct, affecting how bile is brought from the liver to the gall bladder
• Anuria - inability to urinate and producing nearly no urine
• Albuminuria - condition of having excessive urine-protein levels of a protein called Albumin
• Erectile Dysfunction - if you want to learn more about this, please take a look at our full artticle on erectile dysfunction.