Urinalysis: What a Urine Test Can (and Can’t) Reveal About Your Health

Lab testing is an important way that your medical practitioner (and you) learn about how well your organs function. One of the slightly more awkward tests is urinalysis. To capture your urine, you must pee into a cup, following explicit instructions on how to obtain a clean, uncontaminated sample.

So what happens to that cup after you fill it and place it in the collection cabinet? Your doctor sends it to a laboratory that analyzes it for a number of factors — including infections and glucose levels — that influence your health.

At Gorman Medical, PC, our medical experts, Charles Ripp, MD, and Fran Gorman, DNP, rely on urinalysis at our offices in Colorado Springs and Cripple Creek, Colorado, to find out more about your kidney and overall health.

What can a urinalysis tell you? Here’s why we need that awkward urine sample and what it reveals about your body’s inner workings.

Color and clarity are key

Your kidneys produce urine as a way of removing toxins from your body. To do their job, your kidneys must be well hydrated, so that they have enough water to flush away debris and toxins and to produce urine that you can excrete.

First, we examine your urine for both its color and its clarity. Ideally, urine is nearly colorless and completely clear. That means you’re getting enough hydration and you don’t have unwanted substances in your urine.

If your urine is dark yellow, orange, or darker, you may be moderately to severely dehydrated. Cloudy urine or urine with traces of blood or other substances in it could be a sign of kidney disease.

We use dipsticks to check for substances

When you battle an infection, or have damaged kidneys, certain substances may show up in your urine that clue us into what’s going on in your body. Depending on your current state of health and the appearance of your urine, we may use a variety of dipsticks to test for the presence of:

• Blood: may be sign of infection, urinary tract damage, high blood pressure (hypertension), or cancer
• Bilirubin: may indicate damage to liver or bile ducts
• Glucose: diabetes may cause high levels of glucose
• Ketones: could indicate diabetic ketoacidosis
• Nitrates: may be sign of a bacterial urinary tract infection (UTI)
• Protein: may indicate heart failure, overexertion, dehydration, or kidney damage

We also use a dipstick to check the acid-base level of your urine. A high pH may be a sign of a UTI or a problem with your kidneys. A low pH could be due to diarrhea or diabetes-related ketoacidosis.

We sometimes use a microscope

We may sometimes request that the lab look at your urine sample under a microscope to detect changes that might not be visible with the naked eye. Substances and pathogens that can be seen in your urine microscopically may include:

• Crystals: may cause kidney stones
• Epithelial cells: high numbers may indicate cancer, infection, or inflammation
• Pathogens: yeast, bacteria, and parasites could mean you have a UTI, yeast infection, or sexually transmitted infection (STI)
• Red blood cells: high numbers may indicate problems with your bladder, kidneys, or urinary tract
• White blood cells: high numbers may be a sign of inflammation
• Urinary casts: tubelike casings released by your kidneys; some are normal, some may be a sign of kidney trouble

Usually, your results are ready within a few days. If the results of your urinalysis are outside of the normal range, we may request further tests to determine what’s going on inside your body.

What urinalysis can and can’t do

A urinalysis can give your provider a good idea of how well your kidneys function and can often identify an infection, such as a UTI or an STI. However, we usually don’t rely solely on a urinalysis to diagnose a more complicated disease or condition, such as diabetes.

When your results are abnormal or concerning, we may order another series of tests to determine why. A urinalysis, though, is a good way to monitor your overall health, is an important element of disease management, and can help keep tabs on your glucose levels during pregnancy.

Is it time for your yearly physical, including a urinalysis? Call our nearest office or use the online form to schedule a men’s health or women’s health appointment today.