Why does urine smell bad?
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An unpleasant smell of urine is one of the signs that there is some kind of problem in the body. Once the fluid enters the body, it passes through the kidneys, enters the bladder through the ureters, and then exits the body through the urethra. From the kidneys, fluid takes away waste and decay products. If the urine has an unpleasant odor, this means that the problem is hidden in the excretory system.
Normally, urine should be light yellow in color with a faint ammonia odor, without impurities or sediment.
Dehydration
Why does urine smell? The pronounced ammonia smell of urine is a rather alarming sign. It may indicate total dehydration of the body! The reason is that water imbalance makes the urine more concentrated than normal.
Dehydration is not always caused by a critical situation or serious illness. It can even affect a completely healthy person. If we are carried away by work or other occupation (and even more so physically), on a hot and stuffy day we forget to drink the required amount of water. Let us remind you that the minimum norm for a person per day is 1.5 liters.
Causes and types of repulsive odors
The appearance of stench in men can have various causes:
- Dehydration . Every day a person should drink about 2 liters of ordinary water. If you overuse strong tea and coffee, urine acquires an unpleasant odor.
- Use of certain medications . Many medications can ruin the smell of urine. These include vitamins, some types of antibiotics, and drugs that improve liver function.
- Protein diet . Men follow this diet to lose weight or build muscle mass. But everything should be in moderation. Overeating protein foods and not enough carbohydrates and fats in the diet can lead to the development of a condition called “hunger acetone.” In this condition, the liver suffers. Ketone bodies accumulate in the blood, which then enter the urine and spoil its odor.
- Eating a lot of vegetables , especially green ones, can also lead to stinking urine.
- Urinary system infections . With various diseases, not only the smell of urine changes, but also its color. You can see blood, pus, and sediment in it. The appearance of such urine is a signal that you need to immediately consult a doctor for examination.
- Diabetes . This disease is associated with metabolic disorders. A common complication of diabetes is ketoacidosis - ketones in the blood and urine, affecting its stench.
- Prostatitis . Inflammation of the prostate is accompanied by pain in the perineum, frequent urination and foul smelling urine.
The unpleasant smell of urine has its own classification. Every stench can tell about health problems. Types of odors:
- Fishy . The spirit of rotten fish appears in various pathologies. These include:
- gonorrhea;
- chlamydia;
- reproduction in the genitourinary system of bacteria such as Escherichia coli, staphylococcus, streptococcus;
- An increased content of leukocytes in urine is a sign of inflammation in the urinary system.
- Acetone . Male urine rarely acquires an acetone scent. But if you find such a problem, you should think about its cause:
- improper drinking regime;
- diet with a predominance of protein foods;
- high energy consumption;
- poisoning of the body due to consumption of alcoholic beverages;
- liver failure;
- previous head injuries;
- operations that were performed under general anesthesia.
- Ammoniacal . A similar stench occurs when:
- drinking small amounts of water;
- taking medications;
- poor nutrition;
- pyelonephritis, urethritis, cystitis;
- malignant neoplasms of the excretory system;
- systemic diseases - tuberculosis, diabetes, renal failure.
- Rotten eggs . This symptom occurs with large consumption of salt, hot spices and alcohol. If this phenomenon is accompanied by lower back pain, this is a sign of an inflammatory disease.
- Maple syrup . Such a stench is a sign of a serious hereditary disease - leucinosis. When it occurs, the breakdown of amino acids in the body is disrupted. The disease is accompanied by vomiting, loss of coordination and convulsions.
- Mouse or machine oil smell . The serious hereditary disease phenylketonuria gives urine such a distinctive sign. This disease is diagnosed in children in the maternity hospital. The main treatment for this pathology is following a special low-protein diet.
- Putrid . It is more common in people with malignant tumors of the kidney, bladder, urethra, or prostate.
- Sour . If your urine smells like this, it indicates the presence of a sexually transmitted disease or a bacterial infection.
- Pharmacy or chemical . In a person taking medications, the urine may acquire a specific odor.
- Cat urine . Occurs with a metabolic disease - B-methylcrotonylglycinuria.
- Sweat . If the urine has acquired the smell of sweat, this indicates diseases such as isovaleric acidemia and glutaric acidemia, which are classified as hereditary enzymopathies.
- Cabbage . Appears when absorption of the amino acid methionine is impaired.
- Rubber or rancid oil . This stench appears in people with chronic diseases of the genitourinary system.
- The smell of burning rubber . Appears in many people after 50 years of age and is associated with the aging of the body.
- Coffee or roasted seeds . This smell appears if a person drinks a lot of coffee. Reducing the consumption of this product will cleanse the body and restore normal odor.
- Male . The smell of urine of men and women has different severity. Men's odor is more pronounced, since their urine contains testosterones - male hormones and no estrogens - female hormones.
Diagnostic methods
Urine can indicate a disease not only of the urinary system, but also of other internal organs.
There are many different urine tests:
- General urine analysis - shows all the work of not only the urinary system, but also other internal organs.
- The Nechiporenko analysis shows the number of red blood cells, white blood cells and casts in urine. This analysis is prescribed for patients with inflammatory processes.
- A sugar test is used to diagnose diabetes.
- Analysis for diastasis shows the functioning of the pancreas.
- The red blood cell test shows whether there is blood in the urine. Used in the diagnosis of urolithiasis, cystitis, pyelonephritis.
Don't rush to panic
A bad odor noticed during urination is not always a sign of danger. There are several non-pathological reasons why urine smells different than usual. A changed odor in a normal state of health may appear due to the following circumstances:
- Human diet. Urine sometimes changes aroma under the influence of alcohol, asparagus, spicy and salty foods. The causes of a strong odor caused by food go away on their own. This usually requires 1-2 days from the last time you took such products. But if you continue to regularly abuse beer and eat smoked foods, the situation will not change. If after giving up this diet the aroma becomes normal, then the problem was in the diet.
- Medications. Vitamins, antibiotics and other medications can affect the characteristics of urine. After drug treatment ends, the substances are independently eliminated from the body, and the urine is normalized in all respects. For example, when treated with ampicillin, many people note a strange smell of urine, which goes away after the end of the course of therapy. B vitamins also affect urine characteristics.
- Violation of water balance. Unpleasant urine odor in men and women can occur if a person is on a strict diet or suffers from dehydration. This usually happens to those who exercise or try to lose weight. As a result, a pungent odor of ammonia is sometimes felt when urinating. In order for the situation to normalize, you need to drink a lot and eat a balanced diet, including the required amount of vitamins, minerals and nutrients in your diet.
Health problems
The specific smell of urine cannot always be attributed to diet, taking vitamins, or other harmless reasons. Even in the strongest body, failures can occur. With age, the development of certain chronic processes can negatively affect the excretory system.
Urine has a very strong odor in the following situations:
- diseases of the genitourinary system (inflammation of the bladder, urethritis, prostatitis, ureaplasma, etc.),
- metabolic disease,
- diabetes,
- kidney problems (pyelonephritis, glomerulonephritis),
- infectious lesions of the urinary tract,
- liver dysfunction, etc.
Urine may smell like yeast, mushrooms, or beer. Sometimes it smells like bread, gouache and even phenol, apples, garlic or iodine. Such situations are often the result of non-pathological processes in the body. An unpleasant smell of urine in a man or woman, the causes of which are not related to the food eaten or medications taken, may indicate serious problems.
When the concentration of the aroma increases, or it becomes putrid in nature, brown urine is released, or blood impurities are formed, you should definitely undergo an examination and determine the cause of the changes. Especially if the process is accompanied by other symptoms in parallel. Only through detailed analyzes can provoking factors be identified and appropriate therapy prescribed. It is not recommended to use folk remedies without consulting your doctor.
Systemic disturbances in the functioning of organs
Why does human urine smell very strong? As we discussed above, this may be due to a systemic dysfunction of organs. Especially those systems through which urine passes.
The most common causes are the following diseases:
- Pyelonephritis is an inflammatory process occurring in the kidneys. It can be either a primary form (the disease affects healthy kidneys) or a secondary form (pyelonephritis is a consequence of another kidney disease). A change in the smell of urine will not be the only sign here. The patient will complain of sharp, nagging pain in the lower back. The disease is quite serious - you need to seek help from a doctor as soon as possible!
- Cystitis is an inflammation of the bladder. The disease can be either infectious or non-infectious in nature. The mucous membrane of the muscle sac becomes inflamed, which leads to disruption of its functioning - the patient’s urine will become cloudy and have sediment. An unpleasant ammonia odor will also be felt from freshly collected urine. Sometimes “medicinal” cystitis occurs - the disease is caused by long-term use of large doses of medications that irritate the bladder mucosa. In particular, these are “Urotropin”, “Phenacetin”. The urine will have a sharp “pharmacy” or “hospital” smell.
- Urethritis is an inflammation of the walls of the urethra (urethra). A disease of bacteriological, viral nature. In addition to the strong smell of urine, the patient will notice noticeable pain when urinating, purulent, bloody spots in the urine. Moreover, the smell of this disease appears as the very first of all symptoms.
- UTI (urinary tract infection). Due to the anatomical proximity of the organs, diseases of these systems are in some cases interrelated. Vaginosis, chlamydia, gardnerellosis are the causes of the sharp unpleasant odor of urine. The collected urine here will also be cloudy when held up to light.
What could each specific smell mean?
Let us consider separately several situations where it is possible to roughly determine the causes of pronounced anomalous aromas.
- Mouse smell of urine. It is observed with phenylketonuria - this is a genetically determined pathology in which urine smells of a strong chemical composition. It occurs due to the disruption of phenylalanine metabolism in the human body. The disease affects the central nervous system and provokes the release of toxic substances.
- Smell of ammonia. Especially if the aroma is felt in the morning, it usually indicates congestion in the kidneys. A typical phenomenon for pregnant women, bedridden patients and those who spend a lot of time sitting. There is nothing dangerous in this, but you will have to change your lifestyle. Ammonia can also occur in diabetes mellitus and genitourinary tract infections.
- Why does urine smell strong like fish? If there is a sharp, unpleasant odor of herring, you should be wary. This aroma is characteristic of trimethylaminuria. Experts believe that urine smells like fish due to systemic disorders in the liver, or more precisely, in the fermentation processes. This leads to the accumulation of trimethylamine in the body. It is this that, when it enters the excretory tract, causes the urine to smell like fish. As the disease progresses, the aroma becomes very strong and may be noticeable to others. This is not treated with medication, but with a special diet. This disorder can be observed throughout life and intensify with age if you do not adhere to nutritional rules.
The mechanism of the diuretic effect of coffee
The amount of drink consumed and the diuretic effect are closely related, and the relationship is inversely proportional. The more cups of coffee you drink per day, the less diuretic the effect will be.
- 2 cups of coffee a day has a fairly strong diuretic effect. Blood circulation in the kidneys and in the body as a whole increases, intercellular metabolism and the rate of blood filtration accelerate. Due to this, the amount of urine increases, and it is quickly eliminated from the body by the kidneys.
- More than 3 cups a day will have the opposite effect. In coffee drinkers, the body becomes less sensitive to caffeine, and therefore even the first morning cups do not have such a strong effect on diuresis. Vascular walls no longer react to caffeine in the same way, and its excess leads to the opposite effect: fluid in the body begins to accumulate, and swelling may appear.
It is recommended to drink no more than 2-3 cups of coffee per day. This way the water will be removed and the body will be cleansed.
How to fix the situation?
For the most part, the appearance of a strong urine odor does not indicate pathology. Especially if there are no other signs of health problems. But there are situations when the strong smell of urine is directly related to diseases. It is impossible to identify a disease purely by aromas. But it is the unusual pungent smell of urine in men, women and children that will be a good reason to get tested.
A number of diseases are distinguished by characteristic aromas, which can be used to identify disorders at the initial stage of their development.
Urine with odors requires increased attention and a responsible attitude towards your own health.
Urine is a great source of information about the current state of the body. By conducting simple research, many questions can be answered.
When foul-smelling urine occurs, at a minimum, you need to submit a sample for analysis and undergo additional examinations if necessary. By seeking help, you will know exactly why your urine smells bad, causing its color and consistency to change. The doctor will tell you what to do in a given situation.
The body of a healthy person should produce normal urine, which has a light yellow or straw color and a transparent structure. As for the smell of urine, in its physiological state it is not characterized by the presence of caustic or unpleasant shades. The appearance of an unusual and too strong aroma often indicates the development of some kind of disorder in the patient, which may be associated not only with the urinary system, but also with pathologies of other organs. Most representatives of the stronger sex do not pay attention to such symptoms and do not visit a doctor in a timely manner. The strong smell of urine in men in most cases is the first sign of a serious illness, which is why it is so important to understand the causes of its occurrence.
Certain foods
Why does urine smell - strong, pungent, unpleasant? The reason may lie in your recent lunch or dinner.
- Spices (particularly garlic) that emit a strong aroma. These seasonings can also give urine a distinct odor.
- Seafood. Especially if you have eaten them in large quantities. The statement applies most of all to mussels - both fresh and marinated.
- The most common food cause of strong urine odor is asparagus. No matter what form you use this plant, it will cause a sharp, unpleasant odor in your discharge. However, this kind of deficiency can be easily eliminated - add a little sea salt to the dish with asparagus before eating.
Physiological reasons
The appearance of an unusual aroma in male urine should not be a tragedy, since this symptom does not mean that the patient has severe and incurable pathologies. Often this problem arises as a result of a violation of the usual lifestyle or diet. If the smell of urine has changed under the influence of physiological factors, then you can be calm - this is a normal phenomenon that is temporary and disappears on its own. The aroma of male urine may change and acquire a sharp tint for the following reasons:
- Dehydration - the symptom described above is often a consequence of a lack of fluid in the human body. In such a situation, the urine acquires a rich yellow color and a characteristic odor of ammonia. This phenomenon is often noticed by people involved in strenuous sports or other physical activities. A change in the aroma of urine can also be a consequence of a variety of diets. Therapeutic measures in this case include eliminating the provoking factor and increasing the amount of fluid taken. During the day, the patient should drink at least 2-2.5 liters of water, especially in hot weather.
- Consumption of specific foods - some of them may affect the occurrence of such a symptom. A strong urine odor usually occurs when a person eats a large amount of greens or asparagus. These foods, as well as overly salty or spicy foods with a high content of black and red pepper, can cause changes in the nature of urine in both men and women. There is no treatment in this situation - the patient simply excludes the problematic food from his menu and the signs of the disease disappear after 2-3 days.
- Taking medications – the smell of urine changes greatly when taking certain medications. In most cases, the cause of this phenomenon is long-term use of antibacterial drugs. Vitamin preparations, especially those containing large amounts of pyridoxine (vitamin B6), can also provoke a similar symptom. This problem is eliminated naturally - you need to wait a couple of days until the accumulated beneficial or medicinal substances leave the body on their own. The speed of this process increases if a person leads an active lifestyle, eats rationally, and drinks enough water per day.
What smells might there be?
The aroma of male urine can vary depending on various properties: concentration, quantity and quality. Under normal conditions, urine has a mild, mild odor. Violation of the concentration or filtration function of the urinary system and pathologies of other organs cause its aroma to become unusual, pungent, and sometimes even fetid. Such changes manifest themselves as follows:
- Ammonia - a similar aroma of urine can be a consequence of stagnation in the urinary system. This symptom is usually most pronounced in patients who lead a sedentary lifestyle. This problem is considered not dangerous and does not require specific therapy.
- Acetone – if a patient’s urine smells like this substance, then this is one of the signs of diabetes. In such a situation, you need to pay attention to the presence of other symptoms of this disease. If there are several manifestations of this pathology, a man should urgently consult a doctor and undergo all laboratory tests prescribed to him.
- Machine - in this case, the aroma of urine changes its properties due to a change in its chemical composition, which is associated with a disorder of metabolic processes. The metabolism of phenelanine is disrupted and this substance accumulates in the patient’s tissues and organs, which leads to the development of problems with the central nervous system.
- Fishy - this unpleasant smell of urine in men is a symptom of a rare hereditary pathology - trimethylaminuria. The disease causes disruption of the breakdown of trimethylamine in the liver. This phenomenon can also be provoked by sexually transmitted diseases, inflammatory processes in the urinary organs, and decreased immune defense.
- Male - representatives of the stronger sex have a specific aroma of urine, which is not always a consequence of any illness. Normally, the smell of urine in men should be different from that in women, since the secretions of different sexes contain unequal amounts of estrogens and testosterones. The concentration of sex hormones affects the properties of urine. Its composition also changes after drinking beer.
- Maple syrup - a similar smell occurs as a result of metabolic disorders. This problem is associated with a disorder of amino acid metabolism and an increase in the content of isoleucine, leucine and valine in tissues. A specific aroma appears during the decomposition of these substances, which accumulate in excess and are not absorbed by the body.
- The smell of rotten eggs - this phenomenon is considered to be a consequence of an increase in the amount of sulfurous substances in the patient’s secretions. Urine smells like rotten eggs when the patient's diet contains foods high in sulphine.
- Cat urine is a symptom observed in a metabolic disease, the cause of which is a violation of the decomposition process of leucine. In such a situation, urine is formed that has the aroma of cat waste.
Important! Changes in the nature of urine can be caused by various sexually transmitted pathologies. These unpleasant symptoms affect those men who do not use the necessary means of protection - contraceptives - during sexual intercourse.
Other diseases
Why does urine have a strong smell? The reason may also be diseases that, at first glance, have nothing to do with the urinary tract:
- Diabetes. A symptom of diabetes is dehydration, which causes urine to smell. If the form of the disease is severe enough, then a certain sweetish smell emanates from the urine, somewhat reminiscent of apple. This indicates an increased content of ketone bodies. The most dangerous signal is when a diabetic’s urine begins to characteristically taste like acetone. Here the level of ketone bodies went beyond the maximum norm, and acidosis began in the body. If emergency measures are not taken in this case, the patient may fall into a diabetic coma.
- Liver failure. Serious disorders affecting the functions of the organ, which can occur with viral acute hepatitis, toxic, alcoholic, drug and other lesions. The efficiency of the liver system is also reflected in urine. With the so-called jaundice, the urine has an atypical thick odor and becomes the color of dark beer or even a brownish, greenish hue.
- Leucinosis. Another name is “maple syrup disease.” This is a hereditary pathology, which is characterized by a violation of the metabolism of amino acids in the body - valine, leucine, isoleucine. The second name of the disease was given precisely by the characteristics of urine. The urine begins to smell somewhat like maple syrup. It is caused by the presence of a substance in the urine that appears from leucine.
- Trimethylaminuria. A rather rare disease characterized by a “fishy” smell of urine. What is the reason? The human body accumulates the substance trimethylamine, which is characterized by the shade of rotten fish.
- Phenylketonuria. The urine here will have a "mouse" smell. A genetic disease in which a person has difficulty metabolizing phenylalanine (one of the amino acids) in the body. The concentration of the substance in the urine gives the characteristic odor.