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Go medieval to help beat illness...
25th April 2008
Those big historical Hollywood blockbusters
never get it right do they?
Take Camelot for example.
I was forced to watch this recently (the things I do
for motherinlaws) and over ninety or so minutes
I saw a lot of singing and dancing, a lot of
fighting, and a lot of forsoothing.
But not once did I see Arthur, Lancelot or
Guinevere hold up a bottle of urine to the light
and squint at it.
Come to think of it, I don't remember Sean
Connery in The Name of The Rose looking at his
urine either, and he was meant to be interested in
medicine.
Honestly, those Hollywood script writers...
amateurs to a man.
You see in Medieval times, it was studying your
urine was a widely used practice. Doctors at the
time (or Ye Olde Worlde Doctores as they were
known then) believed they could spot specific
signs of illness by holding up specimen of urine to
the light and squinting at it.
And now, about 1000 years later, scientists are at
last admitting this basic test could be invaluable...
What the Medievalans did for us...
A team of scientists from the Imperial College
London, have been running a few urine studies of
there own.
By the way, is 'team' the right collective noun for
scientists or is it a gaggle or whoop of scientists?
Please write in and let me know.
Anyway, these scientists have just completed the
first serious study of something called
metabolites.
From what I understand, metabolites are the
leftovers from all the substances that have been
broken down and flushed out through urination.
These metabolites give clues to what people eat,
how they live and what health traits they've
inherited from their family line.
And amongst all the data and technical stuff I
waded through, two very important points
emerged that could help thousands of people in
the UK...
Good metabolites, bad metabolites...
This study showed that there are two factors that
are common in people with high blood pressure
and heart problems...
The first is the presence of an amino acid called
alanine. If this is present in your urine, chances
are you're at a higher risk of developing problems
than those without it.
The second is a byproduct of gut bacteria called
hippurate. This metabolite is generally found in
people who drink less alcohol, eat more fibre and
have lower blood pressure.
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Professor Jeremy Nicholson, from Imperial
College, said: 'Metabolic profiling can tell us
how specific aspects of a person's diet and how
much they drink are contributing to their risks for
certain diseases, and these are things which we
can't investigate by looking at a person's DNA.'
Okay, so this seems like a great step in the fight
against disease for doctors. With the study of
metabolites now throwing up this sort of
information, scientists and doctors might have
another weapon at their disposal to help spot
warning signs and prevent certain illnesses - like
heart disease - ever getting a grip.
But what does it mean for the likes of you and me
on a day to day basis?
I mean, we can't 'decant' our urine into a glass,
hold it up to the light and see alanine or hippurate
particles tapping on the glass and waving at us.
But there some things we CAN see...
A quick guide to what should - and
shouldn't come out
A lot of people think that urine should be a strong
yellow colour, but this isn't the case.
As a general rule, urine should be a very pale
yellow, verging on clear if you've been drinking a
lot of liquids. But your urine has the ability run
through the whole spectrum of colours depending
on what you've been putting into your body.
Here's a quick run down: |
- Yellow urine is a sign that you've not been
drinking enough liquids. I'm not sure I'm a
fan of the 'drink your body weight in water'
brigade, but water is without doubt one of
nature's most essential substances. So even if
you don't want to live your life drinking exact
measurements of water, make sure you drink
at least three large glasses of water a day.
- Dark yellow urine is associated with liver
problems or jaundice. Don't worry if this
happens to you as a one-off - but if it's
consistently dark you should see your doctor.
However, try upping your intake of water
before jumping to conclusions. The difference
between yellow and dark yellow is pretty
subjective, so don't go seeing doom every
time you visit the toilet.
- Orange urine is often caused by eating a lot
of carrots. If you drink a lot of carrot juice,
you're even more likely to suffer this change
of colour because of the high concentration of
pigmentation.
- Brown urine. If you've eaten a lot of beans,
your urine can turn brown. But it will be
temporary. If the brown colour persists, it
could be the sign of something serious like
liver disease, hepatitis or melanoma cancer.
You don't need me to tell you this, but if this
happens to you, go and see your doctor
immediately!
- Greenish urine can be caused by a urinary
tract infection or bile problems. That's the bad
side. But your urine can also turn green if you
have too much B vitamins in your diet
(usually if you're taking supplements).
- Red urine. This is the one that EVERYONE
worries about. And it's no wonder. Red urine
can be an indication that you are flushing
away blood, and that's a sure sign you need to
see you doctor.
However, eating dark red foods like beetroots
can also turn colour your urine red, as can
eating blackberries and rhubarb - so don't
panic. Just go and get it checked out.
As you can see, there are a whole load of reasons
why your urine can change colour - and a lot of
the time the effect will be temporary. |
Of course, that wouldn't stop me looking down at
screaming out loud if my urine was green. But
after reading up on the subject, my advice is don't
panic.
First of all, go through the possible causes of the
colour change, cut down on them, and see if your
urine reverts back to a normal colour.
If not, go and see your doctor.
In fact, if you're at all worried about anything you
think your body is trying to tell you, go and see
your doctor.
And if there's no medieval ones at your local
surgery, a 21st century one will have to do.
That's it for today. I'll be back on Sunday with an
offer you'd be mad to refuse... |
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