Why do men have foam every time they urinate?

For beginners who have just had kidney disease or have not yet been diagnosed, it is inevitable that they cannot distinguish the relationship between foamy urine, proteinuria and kidney disease. We help kidney patients understand them based on a number of questions that patients ask most frequently.

There is foam in the urine. Is it proteinuria?

The urine foam produced by proteinuria has two characteristics: one is that the foam is very fine, and the other is that it is not easy to disappear after a long time, such as after several minutes.

There is also a condition that can cause foamy urine, which is diabetes caused by high blood sugar levels. The foam in diabetes is large and disappears very quickly, which is the difference between diabetes and proteinuria.

Therefore, if your urine is foamy, it is recommended that you see a doctor for a routine urine test to see what the problem is, which may require immediate treatment.

Does everyone have proteinuria?

It is true that everyone has proteinuria, but the 24-hour urine protein level of an average person does not exceed 0.15g, or 150mg. When we exercise vigorously, have a fever, or are nervous or anxious, proteinuria will also increase, which is normal.

Therefore, only when proteinuria exceeds the standard for more than 3 months can it be considered diabetic nephropathy, that is, physiological proteinuria. The most common is kidney damage caused by glomerulonephritis, diabetes, hypertension and other diseases, which need to be treated as soon as possible.

A routine urine test showed a plus sign for proteinuria. Does this indicate kidney disease?

The advantage of checking proteinuria by routine urine tests is that it is very convenient, but the disadvantage is that it has low accuracy. A plus sign may or may not indicate kidney disease.

Therefore, in order to eliminate the bias, the first routine urine test should be done three times in the morning. If two positive results appear, it means that the proteinuria is indeed high and kidney disease has occurred. If two of the three tests are negative, then proteinuria and kidney disease cannot be confirmed.

If the foamy urine disappears, does that mean the proteinuria is gone?

In the case of high proteinuria, foamy urine will increase. If the foamy urine disappears, it may be that the proteinuria has decreased. However, it is very inaccurate to judge the amount of proteinuria based on foamy urine, so this method cannot be used to distinguish the disease.