What is urinary poisoning?
Urinary poisoning, also called uremia, is an accumulation of toxic substances in the body that are normally excreted in the urine. It usually occurs as a result of acute or chronic renal insufficiency. The accumulation of these urinary toxic substances can lead to a wide range of symptoms, as they can be deposited in all organs. The therapy consists primarily of treating the cause.
Causes
Uraemia occurs in most cases as a result of acute or chronic renal insufficiency. One or both kidneys are no longer fully functional and cannot filter urinary substances from the body into the urine. The concentration of these substances rises in the blood and is ultimately deposited in the various organs.
Uraemia can also occur if the kidney is injured or if there are tumors through which the kidneys lose their function for urine production. When several organs fail (multi-organ failure), for example in the case of sepsis, uraemia often occurs. Drugs that damage the kidneys can also, in the worst case, lead to renal failure and thus to uremia.
Diagnosis
The diagnosis of urinary intoxication is made by the doctor. In most cases the suspicion of uremia is already made on the basis of the symptoms or the previously known renal insufficiency. To strengthen the suspicion, blood is taken from the patient.
This primarily reveals an accumulation of urinary substances such as creatinine, urea, serum proteins, etc. In addition, there is a change in the electrolyte composition, i.e. the salts in the blood. Uremia leads to an increase in potassium and phosphate with a simultaneous decrease in calcium. Severe uremia also leads to a change in the pH value, as the blood becomes more acidic. The pH value becomes lower, which is called acidosis.
By these symptoms one recognizes a urine poisoning
Urinary poisoning occurs insidiously in most cases. A healthy patient does not suddenly suffer from urinary poisoning, in most cases the patients are already ill before and have other symptoms. At the beginning of uraemia, patients often complain about general symptoms such as tiredness, loss of appetite or headaches.
These are consequences of a deposition of the urinary substances in the central nervous system. More typical signs of uremia are a uremic odor, similar to that of urine. In addition, skin spots may occur, so-called café-au-lait spots.
These usually appear as grayish yellow, irregularly limited discolorations all over the body, similar to those of a birthmark. One also speaks of a “dirty skin color”. Another typical symptom is a frequent itching of the skin.
The deposition of the substances in the skin causes unpleasant itching, the pruritus. Patients often show signs of scratching. Uremia can also trigger many other symptoms, depending on the organ in which the substances are deposited.
It can lead to disorders of the eye function and to deposits in the gastrointestinal tract, which cause nausea, vomiting, or abdominal pain. In the lungs, it can lead to fluid accumulation (pulmonary edema) or inflammation (pleuritis). In the heart, inflammation of the pericardium (pericarditis) or high blood pressure (hypertension) are common consequences. In addition, it can attack the cells in the blood and lead to an immune deficiency.
