Causes of dark colored (brown) urine

Urine discoloration is the most common of problems that people of all ages suffer from. And for that very reason, most of us tend to overlook the issue without gauging the severity involved in it. But in its actual sense, discoloration of urine or abnormal urine color might sometimes signal harmless or in certain other cases more serious health ailments.

Persisting discoloration of urine if detected has to be considered for medical diagnosis, though not all cases contribute to serious health conditions. If you have urine that is different from the normal straw color, there might be some problem with your kidneys. The abnormal urine may be brown in color and cloudy.

There are several brown and cloudy urine causes. Urine of an abnormal color appears different from the usual straw-yellow color and indicates that all is not well with you. Normally, any changes in the color of urine that cannot be associated with any of your preexisting conditions or any foods that you have recently consumed, should immediately be reported to a doctor. Medical treatment should especially be sought if the symptom persists for more than two days and there are repeated episodes of cloudy urine with odor. Often the dyes used in foods may cause the color. However, urine that appears cloudy persistently cannot be associated with such dyes and food items. If your urine is cloudy, it can be an indication of a urinary tract infection. It usually also has a very offensive smell and may contain blood or pus. If your urine is dark brown in color and clear, it could be an indication of a liver disease.

Dark colored (brown) urine is one such symptom that can beckon the onset of disease or diseases, which requires you to seek advanced medical attention. At least a vague idea on the health conditions that causes dark urine will help you handling the issue the way it should be.

Majority part of healthy urine contains water and the rest amounts to solutes, where urea and sodium chloride share the major contribution with traces of phosphoric acid, sulfuric acid and uric acid. Change in the urine color, from the normal pure or pale yellow to any of the extremes can occur due to food or drug intake or might be the symptom of some ailments that the body is undergoing.

The following can be some of the possible causes that results in dark colored (brown) urine. Hemolytic anemia is a health condition characterized by early destruction of red blood cells that causes excessive loss of blood, reduced hemoglobin count or red cell production. One of the major symptoms of this includes dark urine along with other difficulties like yellow tint in the skin and eyes, fatigue, pain in the upper abdomen etc. Your condition could be worse if the symptoms are accompanied by heart failure or an enlarged liver.

Acute porphyria is a serious ailment that is distinguished by the color of urine turning to reddish brown, with symptoms like abdominal pain, constipation, fatigue and insomnia. Another characteristic of dark brown or clear urine can be liver disorder such as hepatitis b. Jaundice and dark urine are the most important symptoms in detecting hepatitis b attack. This liver damage adversely affects body’s capacity to do away with bilirubin, the accumulation of which imparts dark color to the urine of the diseased. The symptom of dark urine is also attached to hepatitis a and hepatitis b related virus infections. Other causes of dark or brown urine are assumed to be, but are not restricted to concentrated urine due to dehydration, urinary tract infections, renal failure and the like. Cloudy urine in men that is pink or red in color may be a side effect of a medication. This could be the side effect of eating too many beet roots or blackberries. It could also be due to potassium side effects, if there is a rash. Other cloudy urine causes in men include kidney infection, enlarged prostate, bladder stones, or tuberculosis. Cloudy urine causes in children include Wilm’s tumor, kidney stones, and hypernephroma. Porphyria and hemolytic anemia can also cause urine that is cloudy and smells. If you have recently started a new prescription or nonprescription drug, consult your doctor immediately. In a lot of cases, new medications could cause the presence of color in the urine. Nutritional supplements, antibiotics, and analgesics may be causing the brown and cloudy color in the urine. Blood in the urine, due to a variety of reasons, could make the appearance of the urine brown. Bladder infection home remedies can help if the urine color has changed due to an infection. If among the cloudy urine symptoms are fever, chills and a burning sensation while urinating, you must get treated for urinary tract infection. Among the home remedies for urinary tract infection are drinking lots of water and changing the pH of the acidic urine.

One of the best bladder infection home remedies is baking soda. Drinking a glass of water with two teaspoons of baking soda can help you get rid of bladder infection. This is not one of the best bladder infection home remedies for children. For children, the best home remedies for a UTI are those that help them remain hydrated, naturally turning their acid-base pH of the urine to normal. You can also give cranberry juice to children. Undiluted cranberry juice is one of the best bladder infection home remedies for women as well. A home remedy for a urinary tract infection can help you reduce the symptoms. However, it is not advisable to rely only on these remedies. Home remedies for a urinary tract infection during pregnancy and home remedies for urinary tract infection in infants should not be tried. Instead, treatment should be sought from a medical practitioner. The cloudy urine causes in pregnancy are also hard to determine. During your pregnancy, it is better not to take any chances with self-diagnosis and home remedies. Try and get yourself thoroughly tested by a physician so that a dangerous infection, if any, can be diagnosed in time and treated accordingly.

Home remedies do not present a urinary tract infection cure. If you are looking for bladder infection home remedies for men, it is best to first go to a doctor and get the condition diagnosed. Urinary tract infection can be cured naturally, but only if the infection is first medically diagnosed to be present. Bile in the urine due to liver damage is one of the most common causes of odor with cloudy urine. Bile in the urine gives a deep brown color to the urine. If you are suffering from hepatitis, or have been drinking a lot of alcohol, it is possible for you to have liver damage. If you are suffering from a condition known as hemolytic anemia, the blood cells begin to rupture, releasing bilirubin from within. The mixture of urine with bilirubin and dead red blood cells can cause the brown appearance of the urine. If you have been exercising in heat outside, that too could be a reason for cloudy urine in men. Dehydration is one of the leading causes of kidney damage, kidney stones and brown or foul smelling urine. If you have been experiencing pain on your sides and see brown colored urine, start drinking more water. Continue drinking water throughout the day and see if the color of your urine has changed. If the urine color remains the same, you may be experiencing the symptoms of kidney stones.

To get a diagnosis of kidney stones, you must get a CT scan, ultrasound and X-ray done. All of these tests, along with a urinalysis and a blood test, can help in determining whether you really have kidney stones, or if the pain is being caused due to a different reason. Other diseases, such as acute tubular necrosis, carcinoma of the urinary bladder, acute cystitis, chronic prostatitis, acute unilateral obstructive uropathy, prostate cancer, hepatitis, chronic or recurrent urinary tract infection, chronic glomerulonephritis, Alport syndrome, acute glomerulonephritis, rhabdomyolysis, endocarditis and renal cell carcinoma can also be responsible for the change of color of urine. These conditions are rather rare and their presence is highly unlikely. However, if your urine remains cloudy and brown in color after several treatments, getting diagnosed for these conditions might be useful. Some of the tests that may be done on you will include blood test, urine test of a clean catch sample, ultrasound of the kidneys and the bladder, X ray for kidney stones, urinalysis to check for signs of kidney or bladder infection.

For the not so serious issues there are home remedies for rescue. Your body demands to be replenished at the margin at which you exercise it. By consuming lot of water, eating fresh fruits with more fluid content, eating well cooked food and staying hygiene you can control most of the aforementioned diseases. But if the condition persists, prompt expert medical investigation is always recommended.