Normally a person produces about 2 liters of urine per day. This mainly happens during the day, there is little urination at night, this is because there is no drinking at night. There are many people who have problems with their urine, either with the amount of it or with the color or smell.
Complaints related to urination
There are different types of complaints when urinating. Some complaints regarding quantity, whether or not to stop and possible pain;
Pollakiuria
Having to urinate much more often in a day than normal and often only very small amounts at a time. The bladder wall is very stimulated, which means that even the smallest amount of urine gives you an incentive to go to the toilet.
Stranguria
This is pain when urinating, especially in the lower abdomen. There may also be a burning stream of urine.
Nocturia
This is common in pregnant women, people with heart attacks or men with prostate cancer. Contrary to what I just wrote, people often have to go to the toilet at night. This actually means that you even have to urinate more at night than during the day.
Incontinence
Most people are familiar with this concept. If someone is incontinent, he/she has difficulty keeping urine in the bladder. It often comes out at inappropriate times. There are many causes for incontinence, often neurological.
The form of incontinence I described above should not be confused with stress incontinence. A person is only slightly incontinent if he/she has to cough, sneeze, lift, etc. This is much more common, especially in women if the uterus has prolapsed.
Overflow bladder
The word says it all, this means that the bladder can fill up without bothering anyone, but it does overflow small amounts at a time. It often occurs due to inflammation of the urethra or in men with prostate cancer. Alcoholism may also disrupt the signals that the bladder uses to signal that you need to go to the toilet.
Bedwetting
This occurs in children. They then wet the bed at night, usually without cause. It disappears naturally with age.
Complaints about the amount of urine
There are disorders in which people produce more (polyuria) or much less (oliguria or anuria) urine in a day.
Causes for producing more urine:
- Drink a lot
- Alcohol consumption
- Drinking lots of coffee
- Diabetes
- Absence of hormone ADH; the kidney is therefore unable to retain water
Causes for producing less urine:
- Dehydration
- Shock
- Symptoms of kidney failure
Appearance of the urine
Normally urine is clear and the color is light yellow. The urine can change color due to diet and/or medication, but also due to certain diseases/conditions;
Hematuria
Sometimes there is blood in the urine. If the blood comes from high up in the urinary tract, it is well mixed with the urine; if there are strings of blood, it comes from somewhere lower down. Of course, this should not be confused with a woman’s menstruation.
Leukocyturia
The urine is whitish-cloudy, due to the presence of white blood cells. Sometimes it is also the case that precipitated urine components are present, but this cannot cause any harm.
Glucosuria and proteinuria
With glycosuria, glucose is present in the urine. This can especially be the case with diabetes, but also if someone has eaten a lot of sweets the day before.
Proteinuria is when there is too much protein in the urine. The causes of this mainly lie in the kidneys.
Further
If any of these things seem familiar to you because you or someone close to you suffers from them, it is advisable to go to your doctor.
