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Structure
Interesting Questions, Facts and Information
- There are a total of 20 general entries.
Special Topics
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 Interesting Questions, Facts, and Information
 Genitourinary System
| Due to various reasons urine can turn a variety of colours. Which is the rarest? | A Wee Quiz on Urine
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Blue. Urine can be turned just about any colour but blue has fewer causes than others.
Beetroot is the commonest cause of pinkish urine in some people, whereas blood will cause various shades of red if fresh and darker towards black (called melanuria) if it has clotted. Bright green can come from some supplements such as vitamin B, brown from porphyria, and orange from liver disease and some medicines. Purple can be caused by the urine becoming alkaline from the degradation of indoxyl sulfate by some bacterial infections, and a range from blue to green can also come from the bile pigment biliverdin, rare infections and a few substances found in medication.
All of these (Tanning leather, Fixing dyestuffs, Making fertilizer). Ammonia and other useful chemicals often created artificially for industry can also come from totally natural sources. In pre-industrial countries it continues to be used as it was elsewhere before industrialisation. It is still commonly used as a mordant for fixing dye. A dilute solution of urine was traditionally used as a degreaser for sheep's wool before it was combed, spun and woven. Phosphates and nitrates can also be extracted for fertilizer.
Chamber Lye was made from urine collected from chamber pots and used for soaking and washing laundry.
In historical times, urine was collected and used in the manufacture of gunpowder.
| As of 2008, which medical preparation is most likely to include urine based material? | A Wee Quiz on Urine
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Female hormone replacement. Sometimes it's all in the name. The popular brand of oestrogen replacement sold since 1942 is called Premarin, simply abbreviated from the component it is isolated from, pregnant mare's urine. How many customers actually realise this is debatable, but urine wouldn't be used if it didn't work. Urine has been used for all the other reasons, but not normally commercially.
| Drinking urine is beneficial in an emergency to avoid dehydration. Is this correct? | A Wee Quiz on Urine
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Only once or twice. Although you hear stories of people drinking their own urine (or others') in the desert or when shipwrecked it does not help for long. As the urine is already mixed with salts and other impurities, drinking it again only provides a relatively small amount of water. Each time this goes through the body it will become more concentrated until it will soon be as useless as drinking sea water. So in a single situation it may well help, but not for long.
All of these (Sore throats, Infections, Vitamin deficiencies). In many cultures, especially those without easy access to conventional medicine, such as the Ayurvedic system of India, and the Aztecs, urine is used for many conditions, apparently successfully. As many nutrients are excreted when we have enough, if we run out and desperately need them then where else than someone's excesses? Vitamins that are not stored in the body like vitamin C will leave through the urine once we have absorbed enough, so it makes sense not to waste any if no other source is available.
My own grandma was actually raised with a bottle of her mother's urine 'on tap' with her three siblings, and it was used for sore throats and the like. Her sisters both lived to over 90 and she is going strong at 98 so it certainly did no harm!
| Many compounds are dissolved in normal healthy urine. Which one will you NOT find? | A Wee Quiz on Urine
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Glucose. Glucose in the urine is not found if the urine is healthy, and if is found is usually a sign of diabetes. Many other traces of substances are present in urine as the body also excretes excess nutrients such as vitamin C and various minerals.
Although ammonia is also associated with urine it forms on decomposition of urea after it has left the body and is not part of it when fresh.
Drinking too much fluid. Healthy urine should be straw coloured. Anything darker means more fluid should be drunk. Clear urine, usually in larger quantities than usual, is often a sign of drinking too much, especially of diuretics such as caffeine or alcohol. You can drink too much water and this is a clue if you have.
As far as I know the other choices do not have this effect.
None at all. Healthy urine should be virtually sterile. Any bacteria are a sign of an infection and not something you would normally see. This is one reason urine tests are so important as any germs present will point to an infection somewhere in the body.
| Everybody is talking about their prostate at the nursing home that I am in and I didn't even know I had one until I was all grown up. What the heck is the use of a prostate, anyway? | The Genitourinary System
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it makes a fluid that supports sperm maturation and delivery. The prostate only exists to serve as a secretory gland for seminal fluid used in the support of the sperm produced in the testes. Sperm are actually only a very small portion of the ejaculate. There is no testosterone made in the prostate nor does it normally affect the blood pressure. There are sphincters or tight muscles that hold urine in and the prostate isn't necessary for that function.
| I am considering taking Viagra (sildenafil) to improve my relationship with my wife. Are there any medications that I should avoid? | The Genitourinary System
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nitrates (such as nitroglycerine or isosorbide). Nitrates including nitroglycerine and isosorbide are a particular contraindication when using Viagra (sildenafil) as death can be the result of taking them together. Both sildenafil and nitrates can lower your blood pressure. The others listed are not contraindicated.
| My daughter still wets the bed at age four. My friends tell me that that is a big problem and I remember how it was embarrassing for me when I was a child. She doesn't seem troubled by it, so what should I do next? | The Genitourinary System
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wait to see whether it will improve over time. Children become dry by night over a range of years, some never achieving that state even to adulthood. There is a definite correlation to a family history of wetting the bed or enuresis as it is called. Waiting to see if it will cease on it's own is the best choice here as she is only four. I would still consult a physician, however. Imipramine has serious side effects and should be avoided and discipline has no place whatsoever. A star chart used to reward the child for dry nights does more to raise esteem than to promote dryness as has been shown in studies.
| My name is Ed and I form calcium-based kidney stones all the time. My wife doesn't make them. We eat the same foods and drink the same drinks. Neither of our families have a history of kidney stones and I don't have gout. What is the basic difference? | The Genitourinary System
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excretion of urinary citrate in females is higher. Women form fewer stones due to the higher concentration of citrate in their urine relative to their creatinine. It is thought that this is one of the most likely reasons that women have fewer kidney stone attacks than men. Eating salt and drinking cranberry juice or less water may actually increase kidney stone development.
| My twenty-year-old son tells me that he noted a hard bump in his testicle three months ago and it hasn't gone away. What should I tell him to do? | The Genitourinary System
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tell him to go to see the doctor, it could be cancer. Hard masses in the testis are considered to be cancerous until proven otherwise and delay in reporting them to family and the physician is very typical. Treatment is highly successful but better done early. Most men are at young adult age when they get cancer of the testis, but it can be present in children and the elderly. No growth changes would explain a hard mass and most tumors are painless, though some are painful. Buying an athletic support would be of no real help here.
| My doctor tells me that my kidneys are hardly working at all. I need to know what my options are and what my doctor is going to suggest. What can I conclude? | The Genitourinary System
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I might need to undergo dialysis. Chronic renal failure isn't absolute, there are various forms of it. In the worst stage, life isn't possible without cleansing the blood and removing excess fluid through dialysis (which either uses a machine with filters or a fluid transiently placed in the abdominal cavity to absorb the impurities). Dietary restrictions are certain so that harmful substances such as potassium and salt don't build up too quickly in our bodies. Since the kidneys also remove excess fluids, fluid restriction is suggested in patients with renal failure. Renal transplantation is an option for some people. Blood pressure concerns will be important and treatment may be needed for this as the kidneys play a big role in blood pressure equilibrium in normal people.
filter impurities out of my blood and get rid of excess fluid. Kidneys do many things like monitor our blood pressure and calcium balance and even help us make our red blood cells, but not our white ones. They don't make enzymes for digestion and they don't add oxygen to the blood. They filter out the poisons that might accumulate in our system and get rid of excess fluid. When they don't work at all, life isn't possible without some form of intervention.
| I noticed that my urine was pink and I saw some small clots when I looked more closely. What should I do? | The Genitourinary System
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consult the doctor. Blood in the urine, especially the passage of clots, can be due to a serious problem, even cancer. It should never be ignored and doesn't happen in normal circumstances. See your doctor and they will investigate the problem with a battery of tests. Eating beets does cause pink urine in some people, but never causes clot passage. Cranberry juice would be a good idea if the problem was a urinary tract infection but that needs to be proved to be the cause.
| If you get a calcium type of kidney stone (the most common kidney stone), what is the most important thing that you can you do to prevent a recurrence in the future? | The Genitourinary System
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drink more water. Calcium type stones may be preventable in some people and not others. It is safe to say that hydration is the most important thing you can do to prevent a recurrence. Eight to ten glasses of water (not of the sparkling variety) is suggested. Lemon flavoring makes it more palatable for some people. Kidney stones often recur without a change in diet and hydration so hoping for the best isn't the best course. Cranberry juice has a lot of oxalate in it and may contribute to calcium type kidney stone development. Salt displaces calcium into your urine and should be avoided if you have a history of kidney stones.
two. A straightforward one to start with. Most of us have two kidneys but some of us are born with only one. Sometimes the two kidneys are fused together at their base in what is known as a horseshoe kidney. Occasionally the two kidneys will be found on the same side with one being "ectopic". Kidneys usually have just one drain (ureter) to the bladder but sometimes there will be two and then the kidney may be two functional units in one. This is called a duplex kidney. The normal kidney is bean shaped and hidden deep in back for protection.
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