Did you know that the first pseudo-urinalysis took place under Hippocrates in 400 A.D.? Hippocrates was not only known as the "Father of Modern Medicine", but was known as the "Father of Kidney Nephrology" as well. He was the first to detect sugar in urine by placing urine on the ground and if insects were attracted to it, then he knew it contained something sweet, and the sugary urine was referred to as "honey urine". It took 1300 years, however, before sugar was evaporated for urine and the term "diabetes" was coined. Hippocrates wrote a book on uroscopy.
During the Middle Ages, urinalysis was based not on facts, rather on what we now refer to as "quack" medicine. Urine was collected in bladder-shaped pots and analyzed by "Pisse Prophets", who claimed they could fortell an individual's future based upon the color and turbidity of the urine. This was practiced for several hundred years!
Urinalysis did not become a part of a routine physical until 1827. The first true urinalysis based on the strip test did not actually take place until 1956.
The Definition and Importance of Urinalysis:
Urinalysis is urine testing with common procedures to provide a safe, reliable, and cost-effective aid in diagnosis of disease or underlying conditions and to aid in monitoring therapy effectiveness.
What is Urine?
Urine is a solution of 95% water (the solvent) and 5% solutes dissolved in it. Solutes vary depending upon age, sex, diet, exercise or activity, metabolism, the endocrine system, body position, and if there is an underlying disease, condition or infection. The major solute in urine is urea, the metabolic waste product consisting of amino acid and protein breakdown. Another solute is creatinine. A third key solute is uric acid. These solutes aid in identifying urine as urine versus other fluids.
Inorganic solids in urine include chloride (Cl-), sodium (Na+) and potassium (K+). Together, the solutes and inorganic solids are referred to as the ultrafiltrate. Urine is the ultrafiltrate of blood plasma.
Urine Volume:
Urine volume is determined by the body's state of hydration. It is influenced by fluid intake, non-renal fluid loss, variations of hormone levels of antidiuretic hormones (ADH), and excretion of large amounts of dissolved solids, such as glucose or protein, which are not normally excreted with the urine unless they are spilled over into the urine due to underlying disease or illness. The usual daily volume of urine ranges from 1200-1500 mL, but this depends upon age and sex as well. Normal range is 600-2000 mL.