Does having fine foamy urine mean kidney disease?

In the hospital, you often hear people ask doctors: There are some small bubbles in the urine, and this phenomenon continues to occur. Is this a sign of kidney disease? There are also some people who secretly buy kidney disease-related drugs for treatment without consulting a doctor. So, is it really as we think, that as long as there is foam in the urine, it means we have kidney disease?

The reason why so many people ask this question is that the urine of patients with kidney disease often contains a certain amount of protein. If there is protein in the urine, then a lot of foam will be found in the urine when urinating.

That is to say, if a person has kidney disease and proteinuria, there will be foam in his urine. However, some people look at this problem the other way around. That is, once they find foam in their urine, they suspect that they have kidney disease. This suspicion has some significance, but it cannot be said for sure that if there is foam in the urine, you have kidney disease. The reason is that foamy urine can be caused by a variety of reasons.

1. When urine is discharged, it will form some foam, which is a normal phenomenon. The bubbles formed by impact are generally small in number and large in size, and disappear quickly, so they are not pathological.

2. Foam formed due to proteinuria. There are a lot of bubbles, they are very small and will not disappear for a long time. I met a particularly careful patient. His mother told me that she observed a lot of foam in her son's urine, and the foam had not disappeared half an hour after urinating. This reminds us that if there is a layer of fine foam floating in your urine and it does not dissipate for a long time, it is likely proteinuria, indicating that there is a problem with your kidneys.

Some explanation is needed here. People excrete a certain amount of protein every day. Textbooks say that if a person's urine protein does not exceed 150 mg a day, it means that the kidneys are in normal condition. If you do not excrete more than 150 mg of protein in your urine per day, the foam in your urine is definitely not caused by proteinuria. That is to say, if you see foam in your urine, then the protein in your urine will definitely exceed 150 ml.

But it does not mean that the presence of protein in the urine means kidney disease, because under certain circumstances, people will excrete protein beyond the normal range through urine. For example, people who overeat, eat too much protein at one time; after strenuous exercise; when standing for a long time; and when tired, temporary proteinuria will also occur. This has nothing to do with kidney disease.

3. The purpose of urination is to excrete waste from the body, such as urea. Therefore, human urine usually contains some substances, which makes the urine have a strong tension and forms foam during urination.

To sum up: If you have a history of kidney disease, you should pay attention to your normal urination. Once you find a lot of foam in your urine, you should pay attention to check your urine routine. If you have never had kidney disease before, but there is foam in your urine, there is no need to be nervous, because foam in the urine does not mean that you are sick!