Children at High Risks of Getting Pin Worms

Pin-worms are a type of little worm that commonly infects the intestines, often in kids. Many of the kids in your school have probably had pin-worms at one time, and the worms are nothing to be afraid of. Pin-worms are really small — about as long as a staple. Their eggs get inside the body through the mouth after you touch something which is contaminated with pin-worm eggs, then touch your hands to your mouth.

Round Worms

After getting in your mouth, the eggs pass through the digestive system. The eggs hatch in the small intestine, and the baby worms grow and move on to the large intestine. There, the pin-worms grab onto the wall of the intestine. After a few weeks, the female pin-worms move to the end of the large intestine, and they come out of the body at night to lay their eggs around the anus. The amount of time that passes from when someone swallows the eggs until the worms lay new eggs is about 1 to 2 months.

How Do Kids Get Pin-worms?

Pin-worm eggs can end up on anything touched by someone who has pin-worms: on a counter in the kitchen, in a bed, or on a desk at school. The eggs also can be on clothes, towels, or eating utensils. The eggs can live for about 2 weeks, and when you accidentally touch them and then put your fingers in your mouth, you can swallow the eggs without even knowing it.

High Risk of getting infection

Pin-worms can also spread from one person to another. The worms do not come from pets, only people. And people who have pin-worms are not dirty — kids can get pin-worms no matter how often they take a bath or play in the mud.

Kids in school get pin-worms easily because they spend a lot of time with other kids, who may have pin-worms. They might touch something with pin-worm eggs on it when they're playing with other kids and eat the eggs without even knowing it. The eggs are so light that a few may even end up in the air, where they could be swallowed when you breathe in. This is not a common way of getting pin-worms, though.

If you already have pin-worms, you could swallow more eggs if you scratch around your bottom and put your fingers in your mouth. Or a few of the eggs around your anus could hatch while they're on your skin, and the baby worms might crawl back inside your body and grow into adults.

School children are at high risk

How Do I Know If I Have Pin-worms?

If you have pin-worms, you might see the worms in the toilet after you go to the bathroom. They look like tiny pieces of white thread. You also might see them on your underwear when you wake up in the morning. But the pin-worm eggs are too tiny to be seen without a microscope.

The itching from the pin-worms might wake you up in the middle of the night and make you squirm a lot. So if you're itchy and sore on your backside, tell your mom or dad. And if you see worms in your underwear or in the toilet, you should tell a parent right away. You should know, though, that some people with pin-worms don't have any symptoms at all but, if the infection is heavy, the symptoms can be correspondingly more severe.

How is pin-worm infection spread?

Pin-worm infection is spread person-to-person. Within a few hours of being deposited on the skin around the anus, pin-worm eggs become infective (capable of infecting another person). They can survive up to two weeks on clothing, bedding, or other objects. Infection is acquired when these eggs are accidentally swallowed, usually due to inadequate hand washing by the parents and children. However, eggs on bedding or other objects that are touched while the eggs are still viable can cause infection or reinfection of people.

Worms near the anus

What are the consequences of untreated pin-worms?

• Pin-worms can cause:
• Diarrhea,
• Significant mal-absorption of food,
• Genital itching,
• Bed wetting (enuresis), or
• Vaginal discharge which can be associated with genital skin irritation and rash.

The Worms can fill up your intestine

What Will the Doctor Do?

If pin-worms are suspected, transparent adhesive tape or a pin-worm paddle (supplied by your health care professional) are applied to the anal region. The eggs (and sometimes the parasites themselves) adhere to the sticky tape or paddle and are identified by examination under a microscope. The test is sometimes referred to as "the Scotch Tape test."

The Scotch Tape test

If you have pin-worms, don't worry. They don't cause any harm (just itching!), and it won't take long to get rid of them. Your doctor will give you some medicine that you will take 2 times over 2 weeks to be sure the worms are gone. The doctor can also give you a cream to help stop the itching.

Because it's easy to pass pin-worms on to other people, the doctor may want the other people in your house to take medicine, too. Your mom or dad will probably want to wash everyone's sheets and pajamas to get rid of any eggs that might still be around.

Wash your hand including nails

How are pin-worms prevented?

• Good hygiene will help reduce the spread of the parasites.



Wash Your Hand

• Hand washing after handling bedding, diapers, underwear, and other items that may contain the infective pin-worm eggs will also help.
• Cleaning under the fingernails and not biting the fingernails will also help reduce the chance of contacting the parasites.
• Clothes, especially underwear, should be changed and washed daily to help prevent spreading the disease.



Wash and Change frequently

• Treating everyone infected in a household at the same time may help prevent recurrence and spread to others.
• Because the eggs remain infective for up to three weeks in a moist environment, prevention of spread and reinfection is difficult but possible.

Facts about Pin worm 

1. Pin-worm infections are caused by worm-like parasites that infect humans' intestines and rectal/anal areas. 
2. Young children and their household members are at risk for pin-worm infections when there is infected person around.. 
3. Pin-worms are visible. They range in size from 2-13 mm, are white, and resemble a worm but the pin-worm eggs are small, transparent and can be seen only with a microscope. 
4. Pin-worm infections are spread person-to-person by ingesting pin-worm eggs that have contaminated fingers, bedding, clothing or other items. 
5. The symptoms of pin-worm infection are discomfort and itching in the anal/rectal area. Children especially will scratch the rectal/anal area, get eggs on their fingers or underneath their fingernails and transport the eggs to bedding, toys, other humans, or back to themselves. The eggs hatch into larval forms in the small intestines and then progress to the large intestine where they mature, mate, and progress to the rectal/anal area where females deposit about 10 to 15 thousand eggs. 

Always eat well-cooked food

With these simple steps, keep the worms away!

For more health info and promotions, please follow us on Facebook- Wellness Lab 

If you like this article, you can share this to your friends and families , together we share the health information and the taste of a healthy life!

Parasite In Our Body - Tape-Worms!

Having a parasite in your stomach can be a scary thought, but you're not alone; parasites are far more common than you think. In fact, the majority of the patients I see in the clinic have a parasite. As you will see, parasites can causing a myriad of symptoms, only a few of which are actually digestive in nature. Today we going to see the most common intestinal parasites - Helminths.

Parasites in intestine

What is this?

Helminths are worms with many cells. Tapeworms, pin-worms, and roundworms are among the most common helminths you can found. In their adult form, helminths cannot multiply in the human body. They are usually transmitted when someone comes in contact with infected feces (for example, through contaminated soil, food, or water). 

Signs and Symptoms

Parasites can live within the intestines for years without causing any symptoms. When they do, symptoms include the following:

• Abdominal pain
• Diarrhea
• Nausea or vomiting
• Gas or bloating
• Dysentery (loose stools containing blood and mucus)
• Rash or itching around the rectum or vulva
• Stomach pain or tenderness
• Feeling tired
• Weight loss
• Passing a worm in your stool

Tapeworm rash

Where did I get them?

These things raise your risk for getting intestinal parasites:

• Living in or visiting an area known to have parasites
• International travel
• Poor sanitation (for both food and water)
• Poor hygiene
• Age -- children and the elderly are more likely to get infected
• Exposure to child and institutional care centers
• Having a weakened immune system

Worms!

Most Common Parasites in Our Body - Tape-Worms!

Tapeworms are flat segmented worms that live in the intestines of some animals. Animals can become infected with these parasites when grazing in pastures or drinking contaminated water.

Eating under-cooked meat from infected animals is the main cause of tapeworm infection in people. Although tapeworms in humans usually cause few symptoms and are easily treated, they can sometimes cause serious, life-threatening problems. That's why it's important to recognize the symptoms and know how to protect yourself and your family.

Tapeworm Causes

Six types of tapeworms are known to infect people. They are usually identified by the animals they come from -- for example Taenia saginata from beef, Taenia solium from pork, and Diphyllobothrium latum from fish.

Life cycle of a tapeworm

Tapeworms have a three-stage life cycle: egg; an immature stage called a larva; and an adult stage at which the worm can produce more eggs. Because larvae can get into the muscles of their hosts, infection can occur when you eat raw or under-cooked meat from an infected animal. It is also possible to contract pork tapeworms from foods prepared by an infected person. Because tapeworm eggs are passed with bowel movements, a person who doesn't wash hands well after wiping and then prepares food can contaminate the food.

Tapeworms Symptoms

Sometimes tapeworms cause signs and symptoms such as: 

• Nausea
• Weakness
• Diarrhea
• Abdominal pain
• Hunger or loss of appetite 
• Fatigue
• Weight loss
• Vitamin and mineral deficiencies 

However, often having tapeworms does not cause symptoms. The only sign of tapeworm infection may be segments of the worms, possibly moving, in a bowel movement.

In rare cases, tapeworms can lead to serious complications, including blocking the intestine. If pork tapeworm eggs are accidentally swallowed, they can migrate to other parts of the body and cause damage to the liver, eyes, heart, and brain. These infections can be life-threatening.

A tapeworm infection

Treatment for Tapeworms

If you suspect you have tapeworms, you should see your doctor. Because there are different types of worms and tapeworms that can infect people, diagnosing a tapeworm infection may require a stool sample to identify the type of worm.

Tapeworm on stool

If worms are not detected in the stool, your doctor may order a blood test to check for antibodies produced to fight tapeworm infection. For serious cases, your doctor may use imaging tests such as computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to check for damage outside the digestive tract.

Preventing Tapeworms in Humans

You can further reduce your risk of tapeworms by washing your hands before and after using the toilet and by following these food safety tips. 

• Avoid raw fish and meat. 
• Thoroughly cook meat to temperatures of at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit for whole cuts of meat and to at least 160 degrees F for ground meat. Then let it rest for at least 3 minutes before carving or eating. Safe temperatures for poultry are different. 
• Freeze meat to -4 degrees F for at least 24 hours to kill tapeworm eggs. 
• When traveling in undeveloped countries, cook fruits and vegetables with boiled or chemically-treated water before eating. 
• Wash hands with soap and hot water before preparing or eating foods.

For more health info and promotions, please follow us on Facebook- Wellness Lab 

If you like this article, you can share this to your friends and families , together we share the health information and the taste of a healthy life!

Do you Drink Enough Water?

Most people think they drink enough liquids throughout the day to keep them hydrated. But if you counted all the beverages besides water that people drink you would see that they are actually dehydrating themselves. Most liquids such as coffee, tea, soda, alcohol, and sugary fruit drinks do not hydrate the body like pure water can. Some people are walking around actually dehydrated and they don’t know it because they don’t feel thirsty. Look at the reasons below why you should drink more water.

Do you drink enough water?

You get Fatigue and Tiredness

The first sign of dehydration is the feeling of being tired; some people experience a headache and feel like taking a nap. You will have to put more effort when doing your regular activities. when the body begins to dehydrate, the tissues and cells are not getting enough water to make a person feel like doing anything; enzymatic activity slows down and without water the enzymes are unable to produce energy either. Dehydration pressures and shrinks your brain, and it will need twice as much time to accomplish the tasks. In fact a dehydrated person may have no enthusiasm or joy for life. The good news is once the individual starts to drink some water their energy reserves speed back up and sometimes the headache completely goes away.

You get Fatigue and Tiredness

Risk of getting "Stone"

Insufficient water in your kidney and bladder tends to increase the risk of getting stone. Drink plenty of water will help you reduce the chances of getting kidney stones, gastrointestinal and urinary tract cancer, and heart attack.

Mood swings.

Dehydrated people often feel weak and helpless, confused, angry and depressive, unlike people who drink plenty of water.

Mood Swings

Constipation and Digestive Problems

The function of the metabolism depends on the amount of water you drink, so your metabolism will work faster as you increase the water intake, which is one of the basic rules.

If a person is not drinking enough water they do not have enough liquid to help with the elimination process and without eliminating the foods we digest we gain weight, gain toxins, and feel awful. Being constipated is the beginning to many health problems from allergies to toxic overload syndrome to digestive disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome, gas bloating, stomach pain, nausea and loss of appetite in chronic cases.

Constipation

Stomach Ulcers

To protect the stomach from its acidic digestive fluids that is made during the digestion of food, the stomach is coated with a lining of mucous, which are 98% water and 2% sodium bicarbonate. Sodium bicarbonate helps in the digestive process by neutralizing the acids. When a person is dehydrated the stomach does not have enough liquid available to make the mucous, thus a poor mucous lining protecting a person from the acidic fluids the digestive process makes. This is why some people are more acidic rather than alkaline, and have digestive problems such as acid stomach and heartburn, which eventually without the alkalinity results in an ulcer of the stomach lining.

Stomach Ulcer

Weight Gain

Many times when we are thirsty we eat food rather than drink water. This can cause unnecessary weight gain, especially for a sedentary person. When your body is dehydrated, just a little bit, sometimes it won’t tell you with a dry throat or mouth, but rather with a feeling of being hungry. Here’s the thing, if you just ate a sufficient meal not too long ago how can you really need to eat again?

To know if you need water or food, next time you are hungry when you have already ate a meal, drink a couple glasses of pure water. The body needs at least 2 to 3 litres of water a day, and drinking more than that will keep you from feeling hungry. Not only that, but it will also help you eliminate more toxins from your body. Eventually your body will stop telling you it’s hungry because you are maintaining hydration throughout the day.

People who drink 2 glasses of water before their meals eat 75-90 calories less. This routine will help you lose 5 pounds in three months.

When you drink enough water throughout the day you are feeding the tissues and cells in your body and that gets the enzymatic system moving, which actually releases fat toxins out of the body! Now isn't that good news? Rehydrating the body through pure water gets your metabolism running in full balance rather than being slow and sluggish, which is a cause of weight gain.

Ageing

Hydrated skin looks younger as its plumper, fills in the fine lines and wrinkles, giving you a nice and bright skin tone. without it, You look older and your skin looks sallow is wrinkled. Just by drinking more water could make you look years younger.

You look old when you dehydrated

Important Notes

With one to two days of no fluids, we stop peeing altogether, have trouble swallowing, suffer from muscle spasms, and are more likely to experience nausea. The attention to digestion does not become a priority as victims become delirious and begin to suffer from severe brain function. Blood flow stops flowing to the skin, reduces heat loss, increases cork body temperature, and then gives us a bluish tint. Within three to five days, our organs and brain function will be shutting down.

Therefore, it is essential to keep our bodies hydrated to keep our body system functioning. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has already figured out how to turn urine into clean drinking water. As water is essential for our bodies, it’s important to fight for clean water availability for all.

Raise your glass of water for better health. Cheers! 

To Water, Cheers!

For more health info and promotions, please follow us on Facebook- Wellness Lab 

If you like this article, you can share this to your friends and families , together we share the health information and the taste of a healthy life!

A Kidney Worm Infection Kills a Women!

An elderly woman admitted to hospital with stomach pains died after surgeons discovered a huge parasite living in - and eating - one of her kidneys. Hana Foldynova, 76, had been admitted to hospital with severe abdominal pains and after her family doctor discovered blood in her urine.

Doctors at the hospital in Krnov, in the Czech Republic, decided to operate and they were shocked to find a dark red, 3.9-inch long parasite - which they initially mistook for a blood clot - living in one of her kidneys.

Deadly invader: The giant kidney worm was removed, but the woman died a short time later

Worse still, surgeons also had to remove a second, slightly smaller worm measuring 2.4 inches that had crawled into the woman's bladder. Urologist Jan Pulcer said: "When patients have blood in their urine, it is usually caused by some kidney stone, inflammation or cancer. But this was very surprising for us."

The parasite was identified as a giant kidney worm, also known as Dioctophyme renale, a parasite usually found in dogs but extremely rare in humans. A giant kidney worm can live in the human body up to five years. It can only be removed by surgery, and if left will destroy the kidney.

Doctors said the woman, weakened by the worm that had destroyed her kidney, did not recover after it had been removed and had died a short time later. The organisms were sent to the National Laboratory to confirm the diagnosis. Head urologist, Ivo Odstrcil, said it was not clear how the parasite got into the woman's body, although the usual method was by eating badly cooked fish.

“Her family have said that she liked local seafood. We assume that she was infected after she had eaten badly cooked fish,” Odstrcil said.

A giant kidney worm can live in the human body up to five years, according to scientific literature, reported CEN. Human infestation is extremely rare, and the current case is the first and only one recorded in the Czech Republic.

Giant Kidney Worms

Dioctophyma renale or call Giant Kidney Worm, the largest known nematode, has a worldwide distribution. Many other species, including dogs and humans, can become infected. The definitive host contracts the parasite by ingesting encysted larvae in raw fish (eg, pike, bullhead) or frogs, or by ingesting an infected annelid worm. The larvae penetrate the bowel wall and migrate first to the liver and later to the kidneys. In dogs, the parasite often fails to reach the kidneys and may be found free in the abdominal cavity. Kidney worms grow larger in dogs which can be reaching up to 103 cm.

Life Cycle of Giant Kidney Worms

Female worms are larger than male worms, and both are blood red. Both male and female worms must be present in the same kidney to complete the life cycle. Barrel-shaped, yellow-brown eggs with a thick pitted shell measuring 71–84 × 45–52 μm are shed into the urine.

In the kidneys, the worm(s) cause obstruction, hydronephrosis, and destruction of the renal parenchyma. The right kidney is most commonly affected. Kidney failure can result if both kidneys are parasitized. Chronic peritonitis, adhesions, and liver disease are also possible. Clinical signs are hematuria, pollakiuria, weight loss, and renal or abdominal pain. Urinalysis may reveal proteinuria, hematuria, and pyuria. IV pyelography or ultrasonography shows the enlarged hydronephrotic kidney. 

Worms from one single kidney

The diagnosis is made by finding the eggs in the urine sediment if both sexes of the nematode are present in the kidney and the ureter is patent. Alternatively, exploratory laparotomy may reveal the diagnosis. Worms may be found in the peritoneal cavity, between the lobes of the liver, or within the affected kidney(s) via nephrotomy.

Check out the video below for a finding in a dogs abdominal cavity.

Unilateral nephrectomy is the treatment of choice if the opposite kidney is unaffected. Preventing ingestion of raw fish or other aquatic organisms is recommended in areas where the parasite is known to infect wild animals.

Worms (parasites) infections are very dangerous, so next time when you eat, make sure it is well-cooked. Think twice before you try on something raw.

For more health info and promotions, please follow us on Facebook- Wellness Lab 

If you like this article, you can share this to your friends and families , together we share the health information and the taste of a healthy life!

How to Fight Urinary Tract Infection Naturally?

Painful during urination? or you need to go washroom very frequently? you having strong odour on your urine? You may just having a urinary tract infections (UTI). Doctors typically use antibiotics to treat urinary tract infections. Which drugs are prescribed and for how long depend on your health condition and the type of bacterium found in your urine.

Way to Fight UTI besides antibiotics?

There are many ways to fight a urinary tract infection naturally other than taking an antibiotic.

In fact, some remedies don’t require a prescription — and they can be carried out right at home. From drinking lots of water to replenishing good bacteria with probiotics, these home remedies may help ease your agonizing UTI symptoms:

Get yourself fill with water. 

One of the first thing doctors will tell you to do when you have a urinary tract infection is to drink plenty of water. Drinking water helps flush away the bacteria and puts you on the right track for recovery. The question is, how much should you drink? Aim for half of your body weight in ounces of water, up to 80 ounces a day, says Holly Lucille, ND, a naturopathic physician in private practice in West Hollywood, Calif. and author of Creating and Maintaining Balance: A Woman’s Guide to Safe, Natural Hormone Health. If you weigh 140 pounds, that means you should try to get 70 ounces of water a day.

Drink plenty of water

Cranberry fights UTI. 

Cranberry juice is a great beverage, with important antioxidants that help to strengthen your immune system, allowing your body to fight off infections. According to some study, cranberry juice helps to flush away bacteria and keeps them from sticking to the bladder wall, so it can be effective for UTI prevention. Dr. Lucille tells her patients to drink 16 to 32 ounces of unsweetened cranberry juice a day — or to take 400 milligrams of cranberry extract in supplement form each day. However, according to the Urology Clinic at UAMS, cranberry juice cannot cure a UTI on its own. Your doctor will still need to prescribe antibiotics to clear up the condition. So, it can be help at supplementary level to prevent a UTIs.

Cranberry Myth

Take some vitamin C. 

Vitamin C makes your urine more acidic, which fights bacteria in your urinary tract. If you have an active UTI, taking vitamin C supplements may help.

Blast bad bacteria with good bacteria. 

Yogurt contains probiotics, which is the good bacteria that helps to keep bad bacteria that can cause UTIs at bay, says Kandis Rivers, MD, a urologist at Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, Mich. It’s always a good idea to eat yogurt regularly, but it’s particularly important when you’re taking an antibiotic for UTI treatment, which can wipe out your body’s natural good bacteria too. You can find yogurt with live active cultures that can do the job or take probiotic supplements in pill form, Dr. Rivers says.

Soothe the pain with heat. 

The inflammation and irritation from UTIs cause burning, pressure, and pain around your pubic area, Rivers says. Applying a heating pad can help soothe the area. Keep the heat setting low, and limit it to 15 minutes at a time to avoid burns. Ban the burn with baking soda. If painful, burning urination is a problem for you during a UTI, it can help to ease down the pain by drink half of a teaspoon baking soda mixed with a glass of water.

Heat reduce the pain

Cut out irritants. 

Things like caffeine, alcohol, spicy food, nicotine, carbonated drinks, and artificial sweeteners can irritate your bladder further and make it hard for your body to heal. Focus on healthy foods, such as high-fiber carbohydrates and healthy fats like olive oil, which are good for your digestive health, Lucille says.

No Coffee for the day

Empty your bladder. 

Every time you empty your bladder — even if it’s just a small amount — you rid it of some of the bacteria that’s causing the infection. So keep making those bathroom runs, Rivers says.

Empty your bladder

Use herbal remedies. 

You may find some relief from taking the herb urva ursi, which works as an anti-inflammatory. In addition, the herbs goldenseal and Oregon grape root can help your body fight E. coli, a common bacteria that causes UTIs. However, be sure to tell your doctor about any herbs you’re taking, because side effects can sometimes be serious.

Natural herbal remedies

When to See a Doctor

Make an appointment with your doctor if you suffered from UTI hat lasts for more than two days or if you have additional, unusual symptoms. If you have severe symptoms such as sweet-smelling urine, mental confusion, bloating, nausea, or vomiting, see a medical professional right away.

Consult with your doctor

You should always speak with your doctor or health care professional before you start, stop, or change any prescribed part of your health care plan or treatment and to determine what course of therapy is right for you.

For more health info and promotions, please follow us on Facebook- Wellness Lab 

If you like this article, you can share this to your friends and families , together we share the health information and the taste of a healthy life!

What Does The Smell Of Your Urine Says About Your Health

Normal urine is clear and has a straw-yellow colour. While the odour of urine can vary somewhat, in most cases, it does not have a strong smell. With dehydration, the urine is more concentrated and may have a stronger ammonia scent than normal. Consumption of certain foods, such as asparagus (which can impart a characteristic odour to urine), and taking some medications may be causes for changes in the odour of urine. The presence of bacteria in the urine, such as with a urinary tract infection (UTI), can affect the appearance and smell of urine. When there is an infection in the urinary tract, the urine may take on a foul-smelling odour as well as appear cloudy or bloody. A burning sensation during urination may be a symptom of a UTI. The urine may also have an abnormally sweet odour in uncontrolled diabetes, and some rare genetic conditions can also cause the urine to have an abnormal or strange odour.

Strong or Unusual Smelling Urine

Urine naturally has an odour, but it is usually not very strong smelling. Strong smelling urine is usually not a cause for concern. Sometimes, however, strong or unusual smelling urine is a sign of an underlying medical problem.

Strong Smelling Urine

Diet and Urine Odour

Certain foods may make your urine smell strong.

One food that many people say makes their urine smell strong is the sataw bean (stinky bean or rather call Petai) and asparagus. Some, however, say that asparagus does not change the way their urine smells. John H. McDonald, MS, PhD, of the University of Delaware says that it is possible that your genetics determine if asparagus makes your urine smell strong. McDonald says another possibility is that everyone’s urine smells strong after eating asparagus, but only some people with certain genetic make-ups can detect the change in odour.

Sataw Bean

Other foods that may change the odour of your urine include onions, garlic, and coffee.

If you suspect food is to blame, eliminating the food source should allow your urine to return to a normal smell in less than 12 hours. If you eliminate the food and the odour remains, there is likely another cause.

Underlying Medical Causes of Urine Odour

Several conditions can cause strong or unusual urine odour. The most common causes include:

Dehydration

Dehydration occurs when you do not drink enough fluids. If you are dehydrated, you may notice that your urine is a dark yellow or orange colour and smells like ammonia. Most people only experience minor dehydration and do not require medical treatment. Drinking more fluids, especially water, will generally cause urine odour to return to normal. If you are experiencing mental confusion, weakness, extreme fatigue, or other unusual symptoms, you may have severe dehydration and should get medical treatment right away.

Stay Hydrated

Urinary Tract Infections

Urinary tract infections—often called UTIs—commonly cause urine to have a strong or foul smells. A strong urge to urinate and a burning sensation upon urination are the most common symptoms of a UTI. Bacteria in your urine cause urinary tract infections. If your doctor determines you have a UTI, he or she will give you antibiotics to kill the bacteria.

Diabetes

A common symptom of diabetes is sweet-smelling urine. People with untreated diabetes have high blood sugar levels. High blood sugar levels cause the sweet urine odour. See your doctor as soon as possible if your urine frequently smells sweet. Untreated diabetes is dangerous and can be life threatening.

Diabetes gives the sweet odour of urine

Other less common causes of urine odour include:

Bladder Fistula

A bladder fistula occurs when you have an injury or defect that allows bacteria from your intestines to enter your bladder. Bladder fistulas can occur due to surgical injuries or bowel diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn’s disease.

Bladder Fistula

Liver Disease

A strong urine odour can be a sign of liver disease. Other symptoms of liver disease include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, yellow skin or eyes, weakness, bloating, and weight loss. See your doctor right away if you have symptoms of liver disease. Untreated liver disease can be life threatening.

Do a blood Screening Test too

Rare causes of abnormal urine odour include:

Phenylketonuria

Phenylketonuria is an incurable genetic disease that is present at birth. The disease makes you unable to break down an amino acid called phenylalanine. Other symptoms include:

• Decreased skin pigmentation
• A large head
• Mental defects
• Slow-developing social skills

Phenylketonuria

If this disease is not treated early, it can lead to ADHD and severe mental handicaps.

Maple Sugar Urine Disease

Maple sugar urine disease is a rare and incurable genetic disease that causes urine to smell like maple syrup. People with the disease cannot break down the amino acids eucine, isoleucine, and valine. Lack of treatment can lead to neurological (brain) damage and death.

Maple sugar urine disease (M.S.U.D)

When to See a Doctor

Make an appointment with your doctor if you have a strong or abnormal urine odour that lasts for more than two days or if you have additional, unusual symptoms. If you have severe symptoms such as sweet-smelling urine, mental confusion, bloating, nausea, or vomiting, see a medical professional right away. These symptoms may be signs of diabetes, severe dehydration, or liver disease.

Speak to your doctor

You should always speak with your doctor or health care professional before you start, stop, or change any prescribed part of your health care plan or treatment and to determine what course of therapy is right for you.

For more health info and promotions, please follow us on Facebook- Wellness Lab 

If you like this article, you can share this to your friends and families , together we share the health information and the taste of a healthy life!

What Does The Colour Of Your Urine Says About Your Health

Everyone went to wash room at least once a day, and I believe that everyone will have a glance at the colour of your urine before you flush. Everyone does it, so it's actually a normal habit,  but not all of us study it afterwards. Here’s how to look at - and listen to - what your urine colour and scent tells you.

What will the colour of your urine tells you?

From the smell to the colour and to the fizziness of the urine, this might not be the enjoyable task but it’s one that could, in some cases, it just save your life – The condition of urine can signal everything from mild dehydration to kidney disease or even cancer.

So what’s right, and what’s wrong, 

when it comes to urine?

These may be the cause

Normal Urine?

Urine, coloured by a pigment called urochrome, should normally range between clear or light yellow, according to Asif Muneer, consultant urologist for Spire Bushey Hospital.

Certain medicines and foods (the notorious asparagus as well as things like beetroot and rhubarb) can alter the colour or your urine, but otherwise, if everything is in working order, it should be that ‘clear’ to ‘light yellow’. 

Normal Urine Colour

Abnormal Urine?

“The colour of urine can indicate systemic disease such as jaundice (a brownish discolouration) or disease in the urinary tract [like cystitis], particularly if you notice blood in the urine,” Muneer explains.

“This is a serious warning sign of possible cancer in the bladder, kidney or ureter and needs an urgent assessment.”

Abnormal Urine

If it’s too dark in colour, he adds, “it’s normally a sign of poor fluid intake”, and you’re probably dehydrated. “But brownish is also associated with obstructive jaundice.”

Colour test

It’s not all about shades of brown, sometimes urine gets a bit more colourful – and then you really need to worry…

You can get this test at any clinic

• Orange urine may indicate a problem with the liver or bile duct or maybe after you took an antibiotic
• Green urine can mean a urinary tract infection
• Blue and purple urine can be caused by rare genetic disorders or maybe after you took an antibiotic

You can get this self test at Pharmacy

What else should you worry about…

Fizzing (bubbles)

“Fizzy urine may indicate gas producing bacteria in the urinary tract,” says Muneer, “but rarely there can be communications between the bladder and the urinary tract.” Another condition is there might be too much protein inside your urine or you are having a high protein diet, go for a urine micro-albumin testing to confirm. Other risk factor may be a diabetic symptoms if the bubbles do not go away even after a long time.

Bubbles in Urine

Pain/ Burning Sensation

“A burning sensation during urination is certainly not right,” explains Zaki Almallah, consultant urologist at BMI Priory Hospital in Birmingham. “It could indicate an infection or several other problems. Get it checked out by your GP.” Burning sensation or painful urination may also be diagnosed with Stds or kidney stone.

Painful Urination

Blood Stain/ Amber looking Urine

“Blood in urine that you can actually see (frank haematuria) is serious and requires full investigations urgently,” says Almallah. “There can be many reasons for this, including urine infection or prostate cancer in man, but bladder cancer is the most serious consequence. Don’t put off visiting your GP.”

Blood stained Urine Sample

Foul Smell

“Smelly urine is usually related to low fluid intake and what you have eaten the day before – asparagus being a well-known cause,” says Almallah. It can sometimes mean an infection or diabetes, so if it persists, get it checked.

Have you smell your urine?

Frequency

Most people take bathroom breaks about six to eight times a day, but you might go more or less depending on how much fluid you drink. If you're constantly feeling the urge to go and it's not because you're drinking extra fluid, it can also be a sign of certain conditions below:

• Urinary tract infection -- most common cause
• Diabetes
• Over-active bladder -- involuntary contractions of the bladder muscle
• Interstitial cystitis -- a condition that causes the bladder wall to become inflamed and irritated
• Benign prostate enlargement -- growth of the prostate that causes it to squeeze the urethra and block the normal flow of urine out of the body
• Rarely, A Neurological diseases, including stroke and Parkinson's disease

Urinate frequently can be inconvenience

Any clinic or health screening laboratories including Wellness Lab are having this test as routine screening. Find yourself a doctor for advise if you found matching any one of above condition. Do not hesitate as early detection can saving your money and life.

For more health and promotions, please follow us on Facebook-Wellness Lab 

If you like this article, you can share this to your friends and families , together we share the health information and the taste of a healthy life!