Health Talk: Is that foamy urine a sign of good health?

in #medicine5 years ago

Did you know? When you pee in a toilet bowl and your urine looks like this picture, there is a possibility you may have a serious medical issue.
image
Foamy urine especially if it is becoming more persistent over a period of time MAY mean you have a serious kidney problem, emphasis on MAY.

What are the noticeable features of normal urine?

Ideally, normal urine should have a light yellow colour, it should come out painless, odourless (or faint smell) popping a steady stream and should normally not foam when you pee.

However, when something is wrong, then you see variations in some or all the features of urine as stated above.

Let us talk about it.

Take for example, when urine comes out looking like its deep yellow, it may point at the fact that you are dehydrated;

When urine comes out painful or or is real stinky, it may be a sign of you having an infection of some sort ;

When urine has a poor flow out of the body, especially when it is in a man, it may be a pointer at prostate problem, cancer for example.

Are you with me?

So today, as the title suggests, the focus is on Foamy Urine.

What factors can suddenly be existent that can cause a person's urine to be foamy. As stated earlier, it MAY mean the presence of a serious medical illness like a serious kidney problem, again, emphasis on the MAY.

It does NOT always mean there is a problem, at the same time it might be an indicator.

Now what factors could result in the appearance of Foamy Urine:

  • SPEED OF URINATING:
    when you let out the urine really fast pushing with a lot of force, it may result in your urine appearing more foamy than usual. The speed and force of the release may generate a lot of bubbles which will most likely disappear soon after they are formed in the toilet bowl.

-DEHYDRATION-
Foamy urine could also mean that you are dehydrated, that can lead to your urine becoming very concentrated. This also makes it deep yellow since your body is trying it’s best to conserve water (that you are not drinking enough of) or from losing too much water due to other factors such as exercise or weather.
So based on the fact that your body is trying as much as possible to conserve water, the waste products coming out in the urine is more concentrated and this can make urine come out foamy.

This is probably the first thing to think of if your urine is foamy.
In the absence of medical problems with advice against consumption of water, like heart failure or kidney failure, ideallt a normal human should consume about 3 litres of water every day.
This helps to avoid issues relating to dehydration and it helps with your kidney's functionality too.

-PAINKILLERS-

Misuse of certain forms of painkillers may result in foamy urine especially if excessively used or when used over a long period of time.
image
Painkillers especially the ones called Non Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs NSAIDs can affect kidneys and result in foamy urine. image

-KIDNEY PROBLEM-
As earlier stated, appearance of foamy urine may be an indication of the presence of a kidney problem.

It may be a sign said kidneys are no longer as effective in duty performance as they should, kidney failure is also a possibility, it could also mean the presence of glomerulonephritis (damage to the tiny filters of the kidney)

Let me explain.
Urine is one of the modes of waste product elimination, through the kidneys.

These kidneys filter our blood and removes waste products which comes out in urine, and also filters back things like protein and sugar.

So under normal circumstances, the kidneys would not allow excess protein or sugars into the urine, however, where there is an issue with the kidney filtering may not be properly efficient, hence the presence of sugar and protein in the urine.

SOME CHRONIC DISEASES:
Chronic infections such as hepatitis or HIV can also have the effect of excess protein in your urine which can them make the urine to foam. Some infections directly attack the kidney filters; others result in inflammation which then alters your kidney’s functioning capacity.

CANCER:

There’s a category of cancer known as Multiple myeloma, it is a form of blood cancer which can lead to extra protein in the urine (and result in a foamy outcome).

Or in autoimmune illnesses (like Lupus), the body attacks its own kidneys and ruins it.

Anyway, point to note in this write up today is that Foamy Urine, especially when it is persistent may be a sign of a serious illness.

PLEASE DO NOT OVERLOOK IT.

On a final note, remember the main points. Drink more. Avoid dehydration. Get regular medical checks of your health like your blood pressure, blood sugar and your kidneys.
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY.

Please resteem for the benefit of others that might need it. I hope you have a lovely day.

Sort:  

Hello! I find your post valuable for the wafrica community! Thanks for the great post! We encourage and support quality contents and projects from the West African region.
Do you have a suggestion, concern or want to appear as a guest author on WAfrica, join our discord server and discuss with a member of our curation team.
Don't forget to join us every Sunday by 20:30GMT for our Sunday WAFRO party on our discord channel. Thank you.