In a healthy person, fat in urine can be contained only in small amounts (no more than 2 mg per 1 liter). An increased concentration of lipids in urine most often indicates health problems, less often - malnutrition. Doctors call this violation lipuria. How dangerous is this? And what should I do if an admixture of fat is found in a urinalysis ? We will answer these questions in the article.
How to detect a fatty admixture
It is impossible to detect drops of fat in the urine with the naked eye. They are visible only under a microscope. Under high magnification, the lipid particles look like rainbow spots floating on the surface of the liquid.
At home, you can sometimes notice only a slight turbidity and a change in the smell of urine. However, patients rarely pay attention to this. Only in advanced cases can you see a film on the surface of urine. This is a sign of a very high concentration of fat.
In most cases, urine usually looks and does not change its color. Detection of fat in urine sediment is possible only through clinical analysis. In order for the study to be accurate, the following rules for preparing for the test must be observed:
- 24 hours before the test, do not drink alcohol, as well as yellow and red fruits and vegetables;
- for two days before analysis do not take medications, vitamins and dietary supplements;
- thoroughly wash the external genitals before collecting urine;
- urine should be collected only in a clean pharmacy container to avoid the presence of extraneous fatty impurities;
- the biomaterial must be delivered to the laboratory no later than 2 hours after collection.
Suppose a patient has drops of fat in urine. What does it mean? Lipuria is not an independent disease. This is just a sign of serious distress in the human body. Most often, an increased concentration of fat in the biomaterial is noted in pathologies of the renal glomeruli and tubules, as well as metabolic disorders. In rarer cases, the cause of lipuria can be an excess of lipids in the diet.
Possible pathologies
Why does fat appear in urine in adults? The cause of this deviation is the following diseases:
- nephrotic syndrome;
- diabetes;
- pancreatitis
- cholecystitis;
- injuries
- chyluria;
- advanced stage of obesity.
Elevated lipid levels in urine are often determined after surgery. During operations, the doctor has to dissect fatty tissue and blood vessels. This leads to lipids entering the bloodstream, and from there into the renal tubules. Postoperative lipuria is more commonly seen in overweight patients. In this case, changes in the composition of urine are temporary and disappear on their own.
The reason for the increased concentration of fat in the urine of an adult patient can be serious nutritional errors. If a person constantly abuses lipid-rich foods, then an excess of these substances goes out through the kidneys. Subsequently, this can lead to severe metabolic disorders and obesity. In this case, you must urgently review your diet.
Next, we will consider in detail the possible diseases that are accompanied by lipuria.
Lipuria in childhood
Fat in the urine of a child appears for the same reasons as in adults. Lipid levels are an important indicator of a baby’s health. In children, metabolism is faster than in mature people, therefore, lipuria is found in the early stages of various pathologies.
There are other causes of lipuria that are specific to childhood. These include the following.
- Food intoxication. The child's body is especially sensitive to the quality of food. Therefore, children often experience poisoning, accompanied by vomiting and diarrhea. This leads to a large loss of fluid. As a result, urine becomes more concentrated, and fat appears in it.
- Frequent diarrhea In early childhood, stool disorders occur quite often. The reason for this may be excess nutrition, stress, as well as lack of formation of the digestive system. Frequent diarrhea leads to dehydration, which often causes the appearance of fat in the urine.
- Eating disorders. Abuse of fatty foods in children is much more likely to cause lipuria than in adults.
Nephrotic syndrome
Under the concept of "nephrotic syndrome" urologists mean a whole group of kidney diseases. This pathological condition is characterized by severe swelling and an increased content of protein and fat in the urine. The cause of lipuria and proteinuria is damage to the filtering system of the excretory organs - renal glomeruli.
Nephrotic syndrome is noted in the following diseases:
- glomerulonephritis;
- pyelonephritis;
- amyloidosis of the kidneys.
With these pathologies, the filtration function of the kidneys is significantly impaired. Particles of lipids and proteins penetrate the organ parenchyma and enter urine. Fat in the urine is usually found in the late stages of kidney ailments, when the disease becomes chronic.
Nephrotic syndrome is always accompanied by severe swelling. First, the face, limbs and lower back swell. Then the swelling spreads to the whole body. In advanced cases, there is an accumulation of fluid in the abdominal cavity and in the chest.
With nephrotic syndrome, the skin becomes pale in color, becomes dry and flaky. This is due to the fact that due to edema, the nutrition of epidermal cells is disrupted.
Diabetes
Lipuria can be one of the signs of diabetes. This disease results from insufficient pancreatic insulin production. It is accompanied by a sharp increase in the concentration of glucose in the blood.
Why does fat in the urine appear in diabetes? This pathology often leads to a serious complication - diabetic nephropathy. It is characterized by damage to the renal tubules and glomeruli. In this case, a high concentration of not only fat, but also albumin is determined in the urine.
Nephropathy occurs in the late stages of diabetes, and often causes chronic renal failure.
Pancreatitis
This disease is accompanied by an inflammatory process in the pancreas. The affected organ produces very weak digestive enzymes that are involved in the processing of fats. As a result, undigested lipids enter the urine.
In patients with pancreatitis in urine, a high content of the diastase enzyme is also noted. This is a marker of the acute stage of the inflammatory process in the pancreas. A low level of diastase is usually observed in the chronic form of pancreatitis.
Cholecystitis
With this disease, an inflammatory process occurs in the walls of the gallbladder. This is accompanied by serious organ dysfunctions. The production of bile, which is necessary for the breakdown of fats, is sharply reduced. Untreated lipids enter the bloodstream and then into urine.
With cholecystitis in the urine, the concentration of bilirubin also increases. If the pathology is complicated by the formation of stones, then there is a darkening of urine. This is a sign of obstruction of the bile ducts.
Injuries
Bone fractures can cause lipuria. Elevated levels of fat in biomaterials are usually noted shortly after injury. Most often, lipids in the urine are elevated during fractures of the tubular bones of the upper and lower extremities.
Inside the tubular bones is a yellow bone marrow, which consists of fat cells. In fractures, lipids enter the bloodstream and are then excreted along with urine. In this case, lipuria is temporary and disappears after the healing of bone tissue.
Chiluria
Doctors call the presence of lymph in the urine as chyluria. Normally, tissue fluid does not penetrate urine. Chiluria is usually combined with lipuria, as lymph contains fat cells. Urine is colored white.
This is a fairly rare violation. The cause of chyluria is most often infection with filarias. These parasitic worms live in tissue fluid. Pathology is accompanied by severe edema in the area of accumulation of helminths.
Infectious pathologies (tuberculosis, pneumonia) can also become the cause of chyluria. With these diseases, the lymphatic duct in the chest is often squeezed.
The patient urgently needs to undergo a course of antiparasitic or antibacterial therapy. In severe cases, lymph outflow is restored surgically.
Obesity
Lipuria is often observed in overweight patients. Deviations in the analysis of urine are usually observed in severe obesity, when body weight is significantly higher than normal. In such patients, massive body fat is observed.
Why is fat in urine often determined in overweight people? This is due both to malnutrition and to a violation of the distribution of lipids in the body. Fats penetrate the urine from the subcutaneous tissue. Also one of the main causes of obesity is an excess of lipids in food. The digestive system cannot process large amounts of fat. As a result, these substances enter the bloodstream and are then excreted in the urine.
There are times when obesity is a symptom of endocrine pathology. In patients with diseases of the thyroid gland, pituitary and adrenal glands, body weight can significantly exceed the norm. Such hormonal disorders cause impaired fat metabolism, which leads to lipuria.
Diagnostics
The doctor usually does not diagnose only the presence of fat in the urine. The specialist draws attention to other data of the clinical or biochemical test of urine:
- diastase level;
- glucose concentration;
- indicators of protein, red blood cells and white blood cells;
- the presence of bilirubin and other liver enzymes.
The doctor evaluates the results of the analysis in a complex. Additionally, the patient is recommended to take a blood test for biochemical parameters.
If there are deviations in the results of biochemistry tests, then instrumental studies of the kidneys, pancreas and gall bladder are prescribed.
In obesity, the patient is recommended to undergo a series of hormonal examinations. If the patient is diagnosed with chyluria, then it is necessary to take a blood test for the presence of filaria.
Treatment methods
The appearance of fatty impurities in the urine is only one of the signs of various diseases. The level of lipids in urine is normalized only after the cure of the underlying pathology.
If lipuria is associated with disorders of fat metabolism, then patients are shown taking statins. These drugs lower cholesterol and other unhealthy fats. These medicines include:
- Atorvastatin;
- Pitavastatin;
- "Rosuvastatin."
Patients should follow a special diet. It is necessary to limit the use of fatty foods. It is necessary to exclude fried foods and smoked meats from the menu. In this case, the diet should contain a sufficient amount of vitamins. With nephrotic syndrome, protein intake should also be limited. If the patient is obese, then he should adhere to a low-calorie diet.
If lipuria is provoked by injuries or surgical interventions, then no special treatment is prescribed. The level of fat comes back to normal after the healing of a fracture or the healing of a postoperative wound.
Conclusion
The appearance of lipids in urine is a dangerous sign. This indicates a serious disorder of fat metabolism or kidney damage. The interpretation of the analysis must be shown to the attending physician. The specialist will conduct additional diagnostics and prescribe the necessary treatment. Timely therapy will help to avoid serious complications.