Your urine could signal danger: Doctor explains what to watch for

Urine might seem like just something your body gets rid of, but it’s actually super important. Think of it as a little window into what’s happening inside your body. Your kidneys filter out waste, extra salts, and water, and all of that ends up in your urine. So whatever shows up there can tell a lot about your health.

Doctors can learn about kidney problems, infections, diabetes, or even signs of serious conditions like urinary bladder cancer just from a simple urine test.




So next time you think urine is just waste, remember, it’s actually your body sending messages that are worth paying attention to.

“Urine examination is a very important aspect of diagnosing diseases,” says Dr Anant Kumar, Chairman, Urology, Renal Transplant and Robotics, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket.
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The doctor says while the color of the urine says more about the concentration, a proper analysis and test can give more insight about kidney functioning and other health markers. “The colour of the urine, whether it is yellow or white that depends on the concentration of urine. If you have taken less water, your urine may become yellow. If you have taken lots of water, urine colour may become white. In summertime, if you have not taken the water for sometime, your urine colour will be concentrated yellow. So the colour may not give much diagnosis,” says Dr Anant Kumar and shares a list of urine abnormalities that can detect a range of diseases.

• If your urine is smelly, maybe you have some kind of infection and you need a urine examination to detect it.
• If your urine is a pink colour or dark red colour or frank blood in the urine, it is a very bad sign, an ominous sign, and you must go to the Urologist and they will do the urine examination and another test. It may indicate infection, stone, TB or tumour.
• A very dark yellow urine may indicate liver disease.
• If you’re passing urine and there is a lot of froth, then you must get your urine examination done for the loss of protein. It could be possible that you may be losing protein and you need more tests. Losing protein indicates that the kidney is getting damaged.
• Sometimes urine colour is very different and very dusky or smokey. This needs medical attention.
• If you pass your urine and you see a lot of ants around it, it means that you are losing sugar in the urine and you should get your urine and blood test done for diabetes.
• If you are passing some crystals, it can be that you have uric acid or cystine stones.
• If you are passing RBC and pus cells, it means you are losing blood and you have infection
• If you are passing some deformed RBC, it will tell that you have some glomerular disease in the kidney

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"Urine is a reflection of what’s happening in your kidneys, and urine examination can provide a lot of important information. There are many ways to diagnose diseases, and urine tests are often a simple yet powerful tool. For example, if cancer cells are detected in your urine, it could indicate cancer in the urinary bladder. Urine examinations are also useful for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) and detecting metabolic abnormalities. For instance, the presence of ketones in urine can produce a distinct smell and indicate abnormal metabolism. Additionally, urine tests can help identify different types of kidney disease. Overall, a urine examination is simple, non-invasive, and can reveal a surprising amount about your health. If you have any doubts or concerns, it’s definitely a test that shouldn’t be ignored," says the doctor.

Medical experts consulted

This article includes expert inputs shared with TOI Health by:

Dr Anant Kumar, Chairman, Urology, Renal Transplant and Robotics, Max Super Speciality Hospital, Saket

Inputs were used to explain why urine tests must be done regularly to identify diseases early.