I've lived for 30 years and only now learned that I can do a urine test at home.

Publication Time:

2022-11-21 17:48

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If you experience obesity, lower back pain, edema, frequent urination, urgency, dysuria, foamy urine, cloudy urine, etc., or have been diagnosed with hypertension, diabetes, kidney disease, or are taking long-term medication and are worried about health problems but cannot go to the hospital for a timely check-up, what should you do? Now, you can test your urine at home. Early detection and timely treatment of diseases can prevent or reverse the occurrence of major diseases.

I. What to check with urine self-test?

As shown in the figure above, a citizen found 4+ urine sugar during a home self-test. Previously, there were no symptoms other than obesity. After a follow-up hospital examination, the patient was diagnosed with diabetes. Because it was discovered early, through diet and medication adjustment, the fasting blood sugar quickly dropped from 10+ to below 6. So, under what circumstances do you need to self-test urine?

(1) Kidney disease monitoring

Symptoms such as foamy urine, concentrated urine, cloudy urine, lower back pain, and edema, or those with hypertension and other chronic diseases, and those taking long-term medication need to be alert to kidney damage and can monitor protein in the urine. Persistent proteinuria should be considered pathological. Those already diagnosed with kidney disease, such as acute and chronic nephritis, kidney stones, etc., can continuously monitor changes in urine protein and can also monitor urine occult blood at the same time.

(2) Obesity and diabetes monitoring

Obesity, polydipsia, polyphagia, unexplained weight loss require early measurement of urine glucose. Those already diagnosed with diabetes need to prevent early diabetic kidney damage. If kidney damage can be detected early, it can be treated early to prevent kidney failure and uremia. Diabetics can use a 4-item urine test strip to monitor 4 indicators: urine glucose, microalbumin, ascorbic acid, and creatinine. If a diabetic's blood sugar remains consistently high, urine ketone body monitoring should be increased to prevent ketoacidosis.

(3) Urinary tract infection monitoring

If you have symptoms such as frequent urination, urgency, and dysuria, you can test for white blood cells and nitrite with a 2-item test strip. Those already diagnosed with urinary tract infections, in addition to continuously monitoring changes in white blood cells and nitrites, can also monitor urine occult blood.

(4) Weight loss and pregnancy monitoring

Urine ketone bodies are intermediate products of fat metabolism. For people losing weight, such as after dieting or exercise, urine ketone bodies can be measured to determine if there is fat metabolism. Weight loss, diabetes, and pregnant women are advised to monitor urine ketone bodies.

(5) Regular self-testing

If there are no particularly obvious symptoms and you want to regularly self-test your health, use a 14-item urine test strip. Individually packaged for immediate use to avoid expiration after opening (usually has a shelf life of 1 month after opening). People who are obese, have underlying diseases, or have a family history of four high conditions (high blood sugar, high blood pressure, high blood lipids, high uric acid) are advised to start regular monitoring as early as possible. If unsure about which specification to choose, use the 14-item urine comprehensive screening.

Appendix: Under what circumstances should early testing or regular monitoring be performed? Which diseases are screened for by the 14 urine indicators?

II. Is the dry chemical method of urine test strips accurate?

Chemical components in urine can cause the color of the test strip to change. Usually, the depth of the color is proportional to the concentration of the corresponding substance in the urine. Therefore, urine test strips can not only indicate whether certain components are present in the urine but also indicate the amount through the depth of color.

Hospital testing uses a urine dry chemical analyzer to automatically read the color of the reacted test strip. Home self-testing is only a manual visual test of the test strip color. Both use the same test strips.

The figure below shows a reference for 14-item urine test strip self-test items and hospital fully automated urine dry chemical analyzer test reports.

III. How to operate the urine test strip?

Urine self-testing can be done at any time and does not require needles, is painless and non-invasive, and is simple to operate, suitable for long-term continuous health monitoring. It only takes about 1 minute to read the results. It really is just a matter of "taking a closer look" when urinating to test the urine. The specific operation involves three steps:

Step 1: Collect urine. Use a clean container, such as a urine cup or disposable cup, to collect the midstream urine.

Step 2: Place the test strip. Completely immerse the urine analysis test strip in the urine for 1-2 seconds, remove it, place it on blotting paper to remove excess urine, and then lay it flat.

Step 3: Compare with the color card and read the results.

Note: When collecting urine for self-testing, be sure to collect midstream urine. Women should avoid their menstrual period. If abnormalities are found during urine self-testing, it is recommended to continue monitoring and seek medical attention as soon as possible. (The above images are from: Aiwei Health WeChat Official Account, please indicate the source if forwarding images or articles)