Urine color

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Yellow urine and vitamins

The color of the urine is usually yellowish, clear and of a shade similar to that of beer. Numerous conditions, pathological or not, can alter these chromatic characteristics, giving the urine an unusual appearance.

Food can also interfere with urine color.

, more similar to water, while in conditions of thirst you can see a amber yellow color. In these cases the chromatic alterations depend on the simple dilution or concentration of the main pigment of the urine, called urochrome.
Also among the non-pathological conditions, the color of the urine, as well as their smell, can vary in response to the ingestion of certain foods. The consumption of rhubarb or beetroot, for example, gives the urine reddish shades. The same goes for feasting on figs from India.

A heavy consumption of pumpkin or carrot juice can give the urine an unusual orange complexion. The reason lies in the "exaggerated intake of carotene, a precursor of vitamin A, which can also lead to carotenosis (yellow coloring of the skin and in particular of the palms of the hands and soles of the feet, but not of the whites of the eyes. , this, which distinguishes it from "jaundice).

Finally, asparagus, in addition to giving the urine a characteristic odor, can change its color towards light green.

DRUGS

Urine can take on an unusual color even after taking certain medications or supplements. Some B vitamins, for example, when taken at a high dosage give the urine a color. bright yellow, almost phosphorescent. Pyramidone and other antirheumatic drugs give the urine a color homogeneous and bright pink.

Some drugs (cascara-based laxatives, phenacetin, fentoin, ibuprofen, methyldopa, rifampicin) give the urine a color Red. Others may make it closer to orange, such as the antibiotic rifampin, the anticoagulant coumadin, phenazopyridine (used to treat urination disorders), some laxatives and some chemotherapy drugs.

Taking methylene blue as an antidote or contrast agent, the antidepressant amitriptyline, indomethacin (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug), the anti-ulcer cimetidine or the diuretic triamterene, gives the urine a variable color from green to blue.
Brown shades can be seen after taking the antimalarials chloroquine and pyrimethamine, the antibiotic metronidazole, nitrofurantoin (used as an antibacterial disinfectant of the urinary tract in urethritis, cystitis etc.), the irritating laxatives based on cascara or senna and methocarbamol (a muscle relaxant useful in the presence of muscle spasms).

PHYSICAL EXERCISE

Particularly intense and prolonged physical exertion is often associated with hematuria (presence of blood in the urine). The disorder is more common among marathon runners and triathletes.

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Red urine

HEMATURIA: presence of blood in the urine (kidney stones, bladder stones, inflammation of the bladder, urinary infections, prostatic hypertrophy, kidney disease, tumors localized in the bladder or kidney, abdominal trauma, urethral stricture, use of anticoagulant drugs).

PORPHYRIA: clinical syndrome (or rather group of clinical syndromes) affecting the skin and the nervous system; it is accompanied by the emission of dark red urine, similar to wine.

Blue urine

FAMILY HYPERCALCEMIA or blue diaper syndrome: a rare inherited disease that significantly increases blood calcium levels.

BREAKING OF THE INTRAGASTRIC BALLOON used in the treatment of obesity

Dark Brown Urine

LIVER DISEASES: in the presence of an impaired liver function, for example due to acute hepatitis or cirrhosis, the urine may turn dark brown. Even the rare hereditary disease alkaptonuria and glomerulonephritis can lead to the same chromatic alteration.

HEMOLYSIS, HEMOLITHIC CRISIS: like that associated with favism.
MELANOMA: presence of melanin in the urine.

SUPPLEMENTS: bearberry.

Cloudy, dirty gray, greenish urine

INFECTIONS OF THE URINARY TRACT and KIDNEY STONES: due to the presence of leukocytes (pus), mucus and bacteria.

, weakness, sweating, abdominal pain and a nauseating smell, a urinary tract infection is likely.

If the same symptoms are associated with red colored urine it could be prostate problems.

If the urine turns a dark color and the skin and eyes turn yellow, this is probably a liver disease. The same applies if the urine appears dark and the stools light (probable presence of gallstones).

If the color of the urine approaches red and you feel, or have recently felt, an intense and sudden pain in the side, usually on one side only, it is likely the presence of kidney stones.