- For patients suspected of having illnesses such as urinary tract infections diabetes and kidney disease , doctors will order a urine test, which will help check for signs of abnormalities and find the cause of the disease, and even, now, help diagnose dementia .
- The most commonly used urine test is urinalysis . Other tests include urine culture and urine electrolyte concentration.
- After the test sample is available, the doctor will observe the urine with his eyes and analyze the color, odor and substances in the urine. The next step is to analyze and observe the urine sample through light microscope .
- Before the urine test, patients can eat and drink normally . The commonly used urine sampling method is to collect "mid-flow" urine, because there is less pollution and it can better reflect the true condition of the body.
- When you have a urinary tract infection, white blood cells and bacterial compounds will appear in the urine.
- When there is kidney disease: when protein and red blood cells appear in the urine, it is thought that you may have pyelonephritis , kidney stones and other kidney-related diseases.
- Diabetes: Due to the results of indicators such as pH, a ketone urine test will help doctors determine whether a patient is likely to have diabetes.
- Liver disease: A urine test can not only detect kidney disease but can also help diagnose liver disease.
- The specific interpretation of each indicator is as follows:
- Urinary white blood cells : As the body fights invading bacteria, white blood cells die and are eliminated through the urinary tract. The index also indicates the possibility of a patient having a urinary tract infection, with an increase indicating urinary tract infection or bladder infection.
- Nitrite Index: Typically, nitrates will not be found in urine. Nitrite occurs only when bacteria metabolize food. Elevated ↑ indicates that the patient has a urinary tract infection.
- pH
- • pH = 4 means that the urine sample is very acidic.
- • pH = 7 means the urine sample is neutral.
- • pH = 9 indicates that the urine sample is strongly alkaline.
- When the pH value rises, it indicates dehydration, diarrhea, chronic renal failure , vomiting, pyloric stenosis , etc.
- Bilirubin : Helps detect the risk of liver disease or diseases caused by biliary system .
- Red blood cells
- If red blood cells are present in a urine sample, the patient is at risk for kidney disease or urinary tract infection. For people over 40 years old, if red blood cells are always detected in the urine, the risk of developing urinary tract cancer is very high.
- Glucose : If glucose appears in the urine sample tested, this is a sign of diabetes.
- Healthy cognition (71 subjects)
- Subjective cognitive decline (101 subjects)
- Cognitive impairment without mild cognitive impairment (131 subjects)
- Mild cognitive impairment (158 subjects)
- Alzheimer's disease (113 subjects)
In addition, some researchers are exploring whether dementia can be diagnosed from urine.
Testing for Alzheimer's disease is expensive and may not be available to everyone, so some researchers are prioritizing early screening. Researchers at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and China's WuXi AppTec Diagnostic Innovation Research Institute collaborated to analyze the role of formic acid as a urinary biomarker for Alzheimer's disease.
The scientists chose this particular compound based on their previous research on Alzheimer's disease biomarkers. They point out that abnormal formaldehyde metabolism is a key feature of age-related cognitive impairment.
In this study, the authors recruited 574 participants from the Memory Clinic of the Sixth People's Hospital in Shanghai, China.They divided participants into five groups based on their performance on tests of cognitive function; these groups ranged from healthy cognition to Alzheimer's disease:
Researchers collected urine samples from participants to analyze their formic acid levels and blood samples for DNA analysis.
The urinary formate levels in the group with a certain degree of cognitive decline were higher than those in the healthy cognitive group. Additionally, participants with Alzheimer's disease had significantly higher levels of formic acid in their urine than cognitively healthy participants. The scientists also found an inverse correlation between formic acid levels in urine and cognitive tests in the areas of memory and attention. This means that ureaformic acid could be used for early diagnosis of [Alzheimer's disease], but further research is needed.
Okay, today’s episode teaches you how to read urine. Have you learned it? Look for your own urine test sheet and take a look!
