The color of urine tells about many diseases, the symptoms of which may not appear in any way. Urine is a biological fluid that is produced by the kidneys. It is with her that the final decay products, drug residues, toxic substances and so on are displayed.
Actual problems
If the color of urine has changed, then this is only an extra confirmation of the development of the pathological process in the body.
In a healthy person, it has a light yellow tint, reminiscent of the color of straw. Depending on how saturated the cells are with water, the shade may be slightly darker or lighter.
Why is urine greenish, in which cases can it take a different shade? There are a number of reasons that can be completely harmless, or vice versa, to say that medical intervention is required.
Harmless reasons
The most harmless factor that can affect the change in the shade of urine is the use of certain foods and drinks.
First of all, these are synthetically colored drinks, in particular carbonated drinks, as well as products, for example, ice cream. But in such cases, the dye of artificial origin is quickly excreted from the body and everything comes back to normal, especially if the intake of such a food or drink into the body has stopped.
Natural products can also cause urine to turn green. In particular, these are vegetables:
- sorrel;
- rhubarb, but only the aerial part, the underground color of urine in red;
- asparagus gives a greenish or light green hue;
- unripe apples;
- spinach, after it urine acquires a rich green hue;
- unripe pistachios.
Natural dyes also very quickly excreted from the body. Often, you can even determine which vegetable affected the color change in the urine only after a thorough analysis of the diet. However, if the urine is greenish for 2 or more days, then this is an occasion for immediate medical attention.
Medications
Medications can also cause a change in the color of urine. Some medications do incorporate green dyes that are not metabolized through the kidneys. But such symptoms can also be a consequence of side effects, therefore, such changes should be reported to your doctor.
The drugs that lead to a change in the color of urine include antihistamines, antibacterials, antidepressants, for example, Propofol, Ripsapin, Indomeiacin, and several others.
Some vitamins can also affect the change in shade, but more often they become the reason only to increase the brightness of yellow.
A number of medicinal herbs can also affect the color of urine, in particular licorice, buckthorn and joster grass, which include natural green pigment.
Familial hypercalcemia
This is a fairly rare genetic disease. A characteristic symptom of pathology is urine of a greenish color, or with a bluish tinge.
This is due to the fact that calcium receptors in the parathyroid gland or kidneys change. And these receptors are responsible for maintaining hemostasis of calcium ions, as a result of which its amount increases. In the future, pathology becomes the cause of the development of renal nephrocalcinosis or hyperparathyroidism. In addition to a change in the color of urine, the patient has a number of other symptoms: fever, constipation, irritability, and others.
Dysbacteriosis
It would seem that a trivial violation of the intestinal microflora can actually cause a change in the color of urine. This is due to the fact that due to disturbances in the intestine, the products of rotting protein enter the bloodstream, then are excreted through the kidneys, but already stained in a blue-green color.
Women's issues
Many women during the gestation period often do not understand why they should take a urine test so often. And everything is very simple, even the color of urine will determine the condition of the future mother and child.
If urine is greenish in women during pregnancy, then this indicates that it contains a high content of bile pigments, of course, provided that the diet did not have foods that cause unnatural color of urine.
Also, the green color may indicate changes in the hormonal system or ordinary poisoning.
Infectious diseases
But the cause can be not only the gall bladder, but also infectious diseases that can appear in both sexes. There are a number of causes of cloudy urine in women and men with a greenish tint, and above all, gonorrhea. In this case, the color is due to the release of pus and mucus.
In the female half of humanity, such changes can indicate the presence of vulvitis, endometritis, vaginitis, colpitis.
If we are talking about men, then the green color can speak of phimosis or balanoposthitis. Although these diseases are still more common in boys, rather than men.
In this case, after collecting urine for the study, the number of leukocytes in urine is determined without fail. Their increased content is not an independent pathology, but only suggests that an inflammatory process occurs in the body.
Cystitis can be the cause of cloudy urine in a woman with a greenish tint. In men, such problems can occur against the background of urethritis, however, both of these diseases most often have an infectious basis. These diseases are accompanied by a burning sensation during urination, and sometimes even pain and pain. Severe forms of pathology are accompanied by the release of pus along with urine.
The inflammatory process with an infectious or non-infectious form of diseases of the genitourinary system is often completely asymptomatic, especially at the initial stage and when it comes to older people and pregnant women. Therefore, it is very important to pay attention to the color of your own urine.
Prostatitis
Another male pathology causing a discoloration of urine. At the heart of this is the process of increasing white blood cells, as in the case of infectious diseases. This is due to the fact that the white blood cells themselves are very mobile, but against the background of prostatitis, urination is delayed, which leads to the fact that they accumulate in the urine. Under such circumstances, microbes also accumulate in large quantities in the kidneys, which causes the development of pyelonephritis.
Diseases of the gallbladder and liver
If a person has liver problems, not only urine, but also feces can change color. Along with this, bloating, an unpleasant aftertaste in the mouth, pain in the right hypochondrium, general weakness and increased sweating can be observed.
If we are talking about the gallbladder, then a change in the color of urine can cause gallstone disease, jaundice or cholecystitis. If the organ is disturbed, then bile in excess accumulates in the body, respectively, and is excreted in the same large volume, staining urine in green. Diseases also have a number of characteristic symptoms: fever, belching, discoloration of feces, vomiting, and others. Pain in this case is characteristic of the upper abdomen. This type of pathology is more common for men.
Pyuria
This is not a separate pathology, but only another name for leukocyturia, that is, an increased number of leukocytes in the urine. In this case, the excess of the norm is 200 or more leukocytes. This condition may be accompanied by the appearance of flakes and clots, which are clearly visible in urine.
Pyuria is just one more confirmation that the body has an inflammatory process and most likely, in the urinary tract, less often in the presence of glomeulonephritis.
What to do and when to see a doctor
What does the color of urine mean is already clear, it can tell about the presence of many pathologies. When to see a doctor? If the color of urine has not recovered within two days, while absolutely all products and medicines that could provoke this were excluded from the diet - this is exactly the moment when you should not postpone going to the doctor who will prescribe a general examination of urine, blood, as additional diagnostic measures.
If a disease is suspected, the doctor may prescribe additional tests: a biochemical test, a blood test for toxins, ultrasound, and more.
It is very important not to delay going to the doctor if, against the background of a change in the color of urine, overall health worsens.