Urinalysis in 2 Week Time Frame: How to Interpret Urine Test Results

Urinalysis is an essential tool to screen and diagnose the health of the patient. It provides crucial information about urinary tracts and renal issues, hydration, diabetes mellitus, liver disease and UTI or urinary tract infection. Urine is formed in our kidney through the glomerular filtration, tubular secretion and tubular reabsorption that is how our body gets rid of waste products. Urinalysis is very easy to do, but the results need to be adequately interpreted.

To know more how our urinary system works, visit https://www.kidneyurology.org/Library/Urologic_Health.php/Urniary_system_and_how_works.php for more information.

Types of urine analysis

There are various ways to analyze the sample and for different grounds.

24-hour collection – the patient urinates, and the sample is collected within the next twenty four hours. As our body chemistry changes constantly, the test is used to check for any substance like steroids, electrolytes, white cells, or know urine osmolarity.

First-morning sample – It is the first sample of the morning or within eight hours after the recumbent position. This test is best used when testing for pregnancy in women.

Fasting sample – the second specimen that is collected after fasting is performed.

MSU or midstream urine – this test specimen is used to secure a sample for any presence of bacteria. The first and the last part of the stream is discarded to avoid any forms of contamination to the test sample with any kinds of organism found on the skin.

Random sample – for microscopic and chemical examination, a random specimen is collected for screening purposes. It is also used to detect any form of drug components in our body. That is why, if you expect passing a drug test in a week, you need to be clean and ready any time or day.

Catheter urine sample – the sample collected is for bacterial examination if the patient’s symptoms are suggesting the existence of a Urinary-tract infection.

Patient preparation and assessment

Urine testing can identify any presence of any life-threatening conditions like renal disease or diabetes. It is also used to check pregnancy or the presence of drug components in the body. If there are abnormalities in the body, the test subject can proceed with additional investigations.

That is why it is imperative that the person undergoing the test needs to be adequately counseled to know and understand any consequences before you issue samples. It needs to be void of any harm caused by a wrong diagnosis or interpretation if the test is not correctly done or analyzed.

More or less 50ml of specimen is needed for urinalysis. Children and adults who are subjected to urinalysis are either provide random samples or be advised to issue a midstream catch. The subject needs to be dexterous and mobile to be able to do the test and be instructed of the techniques to prevent any contamination from your private part and hands.

Importance of findings

Urinalysis is usually done in different settings that is why it is very imperative that the health care professional conducting the screening understands how to analyze and interpret the findings displayed in the reagent strip and what these data mean. This part of the article will discuss every paddle recognized on the strip.

Blood

Urine that is excreted in our body does not usually contain blood that is detected by the reagent strip. Bloody urine is also known in the medical world ashaematuria. It can be classified by:

Macroscopic – large amount of blood in our urine, it is usually dark or rose in color, especially if it is left to stand.

Microscopic – the blood is undetected to the naked eye. A microscope or a reagent strip is required to identify it. The blood components can enter in our urine through the damaged filtration barrier in our kidney, which generally prevents any blood from entering the urinary system.

Another reason for blood in the urine is the abnormality of the structures that drains urine from the kidney, transport it outside the system or store the urine. Bloody urine can indicate kidney diseases, inflammatory lesions in the urinary tract like cancer or infection, renal damage, or renal and kidney stones.

It may also signifies a blood-clotting disease or a side effect of the anticoagulant drug that was taken by the test subject. Health care professionals need to remember that the sample can also be contaminated by regular menstrual blood.

According to studies, a lot of the patients that have been diagnosed for haematuria has no real presence of any underlying condition, it will be considered as to be a benign cause. But severe conditions can’t be identified if further investigation is not done. It is imperative that haematuria is properly checked unless a practical reason like menstruation is identified.

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Urobilirubin and bilirubin

These are chemicals produced when a red blood cell is broken down. It is then transported in our blood going to the liver, where the compound will be processed and disposed into the intestine as a part of bile. In the intestine, bacteria found in our body acts on the chemicals to transform the chemical into urobilirubin.

It is usual for samples to contain urobilirubon, but it is rare for bilirubin to be found in our urine. Traces of bilirubin in the sample can be asign of disintegrated red blood cells. The liver removes bilirubin that is why if bilirubin is found in the sample, it may suggest that there is a problem with the bile drainage like a presence of gallstones or a liver disease.

Protein

For a normal person, protein cannot be detected on a reagent strip. It is because the protein components are too large to pass in the filtration barrier. When the protein is detected, it is known in the medical world as proteinuria. It can be caused by a lot of things like disease or damage in the filtration barrier, kidney damage, hypertension, pre-eclampsia in pregnant women, or diabetes mellitus. Further investigations are needed to detect the actual cause of proteinuria.

Conclusion

Urinalysis using a dipstick reagent strip are a very effective way to assess the health status of the individual as well as to detect any infections or diseases. It is necessary for the health care professionals to know and understand the methods in collecting specimen, limit contamination risks by using the reagent strip properly, as well as interpret the result accurately.