Definition
Frequent urination or a flood of urine, which is technically called polyuria (Greek for a lot of urine), is a pathologically increased urinary excretion. Normally, the daily urine quantity is about 1.5 liters per day, but a flood of urine leads to an increased urge to urinate and increased urination with considerably more than two liters in 24 hours. A distinction must be made between pollakisuria (Greek pollakis for frequent and urie for urine), where there is an increasing urge to urinate and frequent urination, but there is no excess of more than two liters of urine overall, since only small amounts of urine are excreted in each case.
Causes
The causes of urinary incontinence are manifold, but a polyuria almost always indicates a pathological process and should therefore be clarified medically. The regulation of urinary excretion is hormonally controlled. An important hormone here is ADH (=antidiuretic hormone), which ensures that water is retained in the body and less fluid is excreted.
Therefore, for example, a lack of these hormones leads to urinary flood in the case of so-called diabetes insipidus. Alcohol consumption also leads to this, as alcohol inhibits ADH. The kidney serves to filter the blood and thus frees the body from toxic substances.
At the same time, however, it retains important minerals and proteins in the body via various filter systems, so that if this functional system is lost, or if the kidney structure is damaged by e.g. drugs, toxins or other basic diseases affecting the kidneys, polyuria can occur. Diabetes mellitus or the intake of diuretics, which directly lead to increased fluid excretion and are used, for example, in heart failure. Other causes can be cystitis or excessive calcium concentrations in the body or, in the context of acute kidney failure, a phase of urinary flow, so-called polyuric kidney failure.
Diagnosis
To be able to treat a urinary flood correctly, it is important to find out the cause, because polyuria can be a symptom of many diseases. Therefore, it is relevant to look for the various underlying diseases that are necessary for increased urinary excretion when making a diagnosis. Thus the anamnesis with a specific question plays an important role.
Information about the duration, severity, concomitant symptoms and previous illnesses are important, for example. Another important role is played by the question of current alcohol and/or medication intake. Subsequently, the urine and blood should be examined for various parameters, such as glucose, minerals, creatinine, proteins, inflammation parameters, bacteria and blood in the urine.
All articles in this series:
