Why should I perform a urine test? Why should I perform a urine test?

Urine tests can show whether there are any diseases (STDs), urinary tract infections, kidney diseases, urinary or metabolic diseases. What you need to do this depends on the type of research requested by your healthcare provider. It may be that your caregiver wants the urine in a certain way.

Urine analyzing methods

An urinalysis may be done in different ways: 

  • A test strip or dipstick provided with color-boxes will be dipped into the urine. The color will then be compared with a standard strip. The doctor will check the presence of sugar, nitrite, protein, red and white blood cells in the urine. 
  • A microscopic examination of the urine, a test tube containing urine is being centrifuged for 5 minutes. As a result, all the cells and other constituents of the urine sinks towards the bottom of the tube. This sludge is then examined under a microscope.
  • Culture of the bacteria. This is only useful if the doctor suspects an infection. The bacteria are cultured on special mediums and identified in the laboratory. The doctor searches which antibiotic is effective against the founded germ. Sometimes you need to wait several days for the result. 
  • Cytological examination. the cells will be examined on malignancy. 

The doctor chooses based on your symptoms which research is most appropriate. Basically, he always starts with a test strip and microscopic examination.

How to sample urine

Taking a good urine sample is very important. The chance of careless contamination by other bacteria decreases is large, making the urine sample not reliable for drawing conclusions. One suspects when contamination be found at least three different types of bacteria in the sample. So only use urine jars that you inherited from the lab to the doctor or pharmacist. Urine kept at room temperature must be tested within 2 hours. Keep the urine therefore in the refrigerator if you are unable to see a doctor within 2 hours.You can find more information about how to test your urine on https://www.excretas.com/.

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