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ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOP

I bet you can figure out why I stopped at P. You’re right! That’s what I wrote about for today’s blog. But first, I wanted to know why it’s called pee. I grew up thinking the only word for it was urine. I turned to a very old friend, Etymonline, for the answer. It turns out my age had a lot to do with calling it urine as a youngster.

“pee (v.) [Gail here. V for Verb – an action word, experience, or condition]

1788, ‘to spray with urine’ …, euphemistic abbreviation of piss. Meaning ‘to urinate’ is from 1879. Related: Peedpeeing. Noun [Gail again. This is a person, place, thing, idea, or state of being] meaning ‘act of urination’ is attested by 1902; as ‘urine’ by 1961. Reduplicated form pee-pee is attested by 1923.

also from 1788

Entries linking to pee

piss (v.)

‘to urinate, discharge the fluid secreted by the kidneys and stored in the urinary bladder,’ c. 1300, pissen, from Old French pissier ‘urinate’ (12c.), from Vulgar Latin *pissiare, of imitative origin. To piss away (money, etc.) is from 1948. Related: Pissedpissing…. “

There was also a chart on the page showing when the word pee started becoming popular. It was in 1961 when I was already 14. By 2019, pee was the preferred word over urine.

And just why is pee so important to us? We’re chronic kidney patients, that’s why! Pee, or urine as I still call it, can tell us so much about what is going on with our kidneys. Did you notice in the definition of piss above that the phrase ‘secreted by the kidneys’ was used?

Let’s take a look at just what a urinalysis is and what it can tell us about the state of our bodies’ health. The Cleveland Clinic defines the test for us:

“A urinalysis (also known as a urine test) is a test that examines the visual, chemical and microscopic aspects of your urine (pee). It can include a variety of tests that detect and measure various compounds that pass through your urine using a single sample of urine.

Healthcare providers often use urinalysis to screen for or monitor certain common health conditions, such as liver diseasekidney disease and diabetes, and to diagnose urinary tract infections (UTIs)….”

I thought it would be best to separate the three parts of a urinalysis to examine each.  Let’s start with the visual aspect of the urine test. The National Kidney Foundation was helpful here.

“The urine will be looked at for color and clearness. Blood may make urine look red or the color of tea or cola. An infection may make urine look cloudy. Foamy urine can be a sign of kidney problems.”

This is something you are probably familiar with since all we need to do is look in the toilet bowl after urination to see if our urine is colored, cloudy, or foamy. Of course, I’m not suggesting that you do a visual urinalysis yourself. But you might notice something concerning. Then it’s time to call your doctor.

WebMD explained the purpose of the chemical aspect of a urine test:

<img data-attachment-id="6979" data-permalink="https://gailraegarwood.wordpress.com/2023/08/28/abcdefghijklmnop/pexels-photo-4033151/" data-orig-file="https://renal.platohealth.ai/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/abcdefghijklmnop-2.jpg" data-orig-size="1880,1253" data-comments-opened="1" data-image-meta="{"aperture":"0","credit":"","camera":"","caption":"","created_timestamp":"0","copyright":"","focal_length":"0","iso":"0","shutter_speed":"0","title":"","orientation":"0"}" data-image-title="man looking through a microscope" data-image-description data-image-caption="

Photo by Edward Jenner on Pexels.com

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Photo by Edward Jenner on Pexels.com

“A microscopic exam checks for things too small to be seen otherwise. Some of the things that shouldn’t be in your urine that a microscope can find include:

  • Red blood cells
  • White blood cells
  • Bacteria
  • Crystals (clumps of minerals, a possible sign of kidney stones)”

Finally, we come to the chemical aspects of your urine. You may be familiar with the term, ‘dipstick.’ [I realized that immediately made me think of checking the oil level in my car. Funny, but not apt for today’s blog. Still…] A strip of chemically sensitive paper is dipped into your urine. It turns different colors when the following is present:

  • Acidity (pH): This is the acid-base or pH level of your urine, which is measured on a scale of 1-14 with 1 being the most acidic and 14 being the most basic.
  • Bilirubin This is a substance produced when the body breaks down red blood cells. It is not normally found in the urine.
  • Concentration/specific gravity: This measures the concentration of particles in your urine and can be related to fluid levels in the body.
  • Glucose: This is a type of sugar that is used to provide energy to cells.
  • Enzymes: A dipstick test may check for the presence of an enzyme called leukocyte esterase that is found in white blood cells.
  • Ketones: These develop when the body uses fat instead of glucose for energy production.
  • Nitrites: These are a type of chemical produced when bacteria are present in the urinary system.
  • Protein: These molecules help the body carry out vital functions. Proteins are usually found in the blood and only in small amounts in the urine.
  • Blood cells: Dipstick tests can be used to look for evidence of blood and blood cells in the urine.”

Thank you to Testing.com for the above information. Oh, I was the one who italicized the word ‘kidneys’ in the source material above, not the author of the material.

We are CKD patients. We need to know what our urine can tell us. If you are also diabetic, like me, you doubly need to know what our urine tests can tell us about how well our kidneys are working. But what if you are a transplant? What good will a urine test do you then?

I found site after site explaining the research studies re urine test uncovering acute kidney transplant rejection, but no definitive information. I gather this is still being tested. Although the kidney biopsy is considered the golden standard for determining acute kidney transplant rejection, just as with kidney disease, the idea is that the quicker the problem is diagnosed, the quicker you can start treating it. My apologies to those who wanted something more definitive, but I cannot be more helpful here.  Perhaps one of you can?

Until next week,

Keep living your life!

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