Urine Test - A Mandatory Clinical Test to Monitor Your Health

Both liver and kidney are responsible for detoxifying the blood and keep you healthy and safe from the toxic effects of many harmful substances. Usually, doctors prescribe a routine blood check-up to ensure that the kidney and liver are functioning properly. 

However, there are times when you need to get your urine tested. The urine is always laden with nitrogenous waste products, excess glucose, and liver excreta. The levels of these compounds tell a doctor whether something is wrong with the kidney and liver or not. And when a doctor suggests, you simply get your urine tested. 

But do you know how the urine samples are evaluated in a lab? Are you aware of why a urine test is important? Do you still believe that for getting accurate results, one needs to collect the early morning urine?

Well, if you don’t know enough about the urinal examination, you won’t be able to judge whether the reports are accurate or not, which doctor to see, and how to get back your health on track. This is why here we are discussing the basic pieces of information related to a urine test.

Why is a urine test conducted?

A urine test is basically suggested to test the overall health of your body. A kidney is the main filtering organ in the human body. It is responsible for removing every kind of toxic molecules from the blood that is the result of various metabolic processes. Now, if something is wrong with your kidney, the filtration won’t be done properly. Hence if you get your urine tested, you will be able to know what has gone wrong. 

Here we have shared some basic reasons for conducting a routine urine test:

1. To make sure your kidney and liver are functioning properly. 
2. To check the glucose concentration in your urine in case you are suffering from diabetes. 
3. To check the concentration of bile and broken down nitrogenous waste if your urine is too yellowish. 
4. To check whether there are any blood cells in the urine if your urine is reddish in color. 

What Is the Right Time To Collect The Urine For Testing?

By now you would have got a glimpse at why urine test is so important. Basically, if it’s just a routine check, there is no need to be concerned about the timing since results will be more or less the same.

However, if you are a diabetic patient, you might have to collect the urine after having a meal. Again, if you are suffering from any liver problem, you will have to collect the early morning urine because it is concentrated and will give a detailed result. If you are testing for pregnancy, you can collect the urine at any time since the results will be the same. 

How is urine tested in a laboratory?

Once you submit the collected urine in the lab, it is tested in three different ways. 

1. Visual test: here the colour and transparency of the body fluid is checked to determine whether there is any persisting abnormality or not. 
2. Microscopic testing: here, a drop of urine is smeared on a slide, stained, and then tested under the microscope for blood cells, bacteria, germs, and other microscopic components. 
3. Dipstick test: here a strip is dipped into the urine. It is a chromatographic strip which changes colour based on the substance present in the sample. 

Conclusion  

Even though urine test is suggested on rare occasions, the results are highly informative and give a detailed pathological analysis of your kidney’s health. So, make sure you are following the instructions and choosing the best lab for the urinalysis.