Andalusia Andalusia Andalusia ' onMouseout='HidePop("64842")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Umayyad">Umayyad
The Umayyad Caliphate was the second of the four Islamic caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. It was ruled by the Umayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfather of the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came from the...
empire.
Diabetes mellitusDiabetes mellitus —often referred to simply as diabetes—is a condition in which the body either does not produce enough, or does not properly respond to, insulin, a hormone produced in the pancreas. Insulin enables cells to absorb glucose in order to turn it into energy...
got its name because the urine is plentiful and sweet. A
urinalysisA urinalysis is an array of tests performed on urine and one of the most common methods of medical diagnosis. A part of a urinalysis can be performed by using urine dipsticks, in which the test results can be read as color changes....
is a medical examination of the urine and part of routine examinations. A culture of the urine is performed when a
urinary tract infectionA urinary tract infection is a bacterial infection that affects any part of the urinary tract.The main causitive agent is:Escherichia coli. Although urine contains a variety of fluids, salts, and waste products, it usually does not have bacteria in it. When bacteria get into the bladder or kidney...
is suspected. A microscopic examination of the urine may be helpful to identify organic or inorganic substrates and help in the diagnosis.
The color and volume of urine can be reliable indicators of
hydrationRehydration is the replenishment of water, or water and electrolytes, lost through dehydration.In humans, methods of rehydration include oral rehydration therapy or intravenous therapy. As oral rehydration is less painful, less invasive, less expensive, and easier to provide, it is the treatment...
level.
Clear and copious urine is generally a sign of adequate hydration, dark urine is a sign of
dehydrationDehydration is defined as excessive loss of body water. It is literally the removal of water from an object. In physiological terms, it entails a relative deficiency of water molecules in relation to other dissolved solutes...
. The exception is when
alcoholIn chemistry, an alcohol is any organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom of an alkyl or substituted alkyl group. An important group of acohols is formed by the simple acyclic alcohols, the general formula for which is C
nH
2n+1OH...
,
caffeineCaffeine is a bitter, white crystalline xanthine alkaloid that is a psychoactive stimulant drug. Caffeine was discovered by a German chemist, Friedrich Ferdinand Runge, in 1819. He coined the term kaffein, a chemical compound in coffee, which in English became caffeine...
, or other diuretics are consumed, in which case urine can be clear and copious and the person still be dehydrated.
Application
Aztec physicians used urine to clean external wounds to prevent infection, and administered it as a drink to relieve stomach and intestinal problems. Purported advocates of the urine 'cure' include
Jim MorrisonJames Douglas "Jim" Morrison was an American singer, songwriter, poet, writer and filmmaker. He was best known as the lead singer and lyricist of The Doors and is widely considered to be one of the most charismatic frontmen in rock music history. He was also the author of several books of poetry ...
and
Steve McQueenTerrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor nicknamed, "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination for his...
. Its alleged medicinal properties have also been utilized in China as a part of holistic medicine, and in India, especially as part of the traditional Indian medicine,
AyurvedaAyurveda is a system of traditional medicine native to India and practiced in other parts of the world as a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda consists of the words , meaning 'life', and , meaning 'related to knowledge' or 'science'...
, under the name Amaroli . The use of
urine therapyIn alternative medicine, the term urine therapy refers to various applications of human urine for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, including drinking of one's own urine and massaging one's skin with one's own urine. A practitioner of urine therapy is sometimes called a uropath...
as a medical treatment or daily health regimen is typically shunned in the West .
Resource
Urine contains proteins and other substances that are useful for medical therapy and are ingredients in many prescription drugs (e.g., Ureacin, Urecholine, Urowave). Urine from
postmenopausalMenopause is the time in a woman’s life when menstruation ends. It is part of a biological process that begins, for most women, in their mid-fifties. During this time, the ovaries gradually produce lower levels of natural sex hormones—estrogen and progesterone...
women is rich in
gonadotropinGonadotropins are protein hormones secreted by gonadotrope cells of the pituitary gland of vertebrates.Gonadotropin is sometimes abbreviated Gn. The British spelling is gonadotrophin.-Types:...
s that can yield follicle stimulating hormone and
luteinizing hormoneLuteinizing hormone is a hormone produced by the anterior pituitary gland.* In the female, an acute rise of LH – the LH surge – triggers ovulation and corpus luteum development....
for fertility therapy. The first such commercial product was Pergonal. Urine from pregnant women contains enough
human chorionic gonadotropinHuman chorionic gonadotropin or Human chorionic gonadotrophin is a glycoprotein hormone produced in pregnancy that is made by the developing embryo soon after conception and later by the syncytiotrophoblast...
s for commercial extraction and purification to produce hCG medication. Pregnant mare urine is the source of
estrogenEstrogens are a group of steroid compounds, named for their importance in the estrous cycle, and functioning as the primary female sex hormone, their name comes from estrus/oistros + gen/gonos = to generate.Estrogens are used as part of some oral contraceptives, in estrogen replacement...
s, namely
PremarinPremarin is the commercial name for compound drug consisting primarily of conjugated estrogens. Isolated from mare's urine , it is manufactured by Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and has been marketed since 1942...
.
In recent times, the
Port-A-JohnA portable toilet is a modern, portable, self-contained outhouse manufactured of molded plastic in a variety of colors and is often used as a temporary toilet for construction sites and large gatherings and events...
corporation of
Utica, MichiganUtica is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 4,577 at the 2000 census.- History :The city now known as Utica was platted by Joseph Stead in 1829, who preferred to call it "Harlow." Others referred to the city as "Hog Hollow" or "McDougalville," until a few...
, USA has developed a filter to collect medically significant
proteinProteins are organic compounds made of amino acids arranged in a linear chain and folded into a globular form. The amino acids in a polymer chain are joined together by the peptide bonds between the carboxyl and amino groups of adjacent amino acid residues...
s from users of their chemical toilets.
Ancient uses
- The ancient Romans
Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of a small agricultural community founded on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 10th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea, it became one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
used urine as a bleachA bleach is a chemical that removes colors or whitens, often via oxidation. Common chemical bleaches include household "chlorine bleach", a solution of approximately 3–6% sodium hypochlorite , and "oxygen bleach", which contains hydrogen peroxide or a peroxide-releasing compound such as sodium...
ing agent for cleaning clothes and teeth.
- In Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, it was used to wash wool to prevent shrinking.
Munitions
Urine has been used in the manufacture of
gunpowderGunpowder, also called black powder, is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate. It burns rapidly, producing volumes of hot solids and gases which can be used as a propellant in firearms and as a pyrotechnic composition in fireworks. The term gunpowder also refers broadly to any...
. Urine, a nitrogen source, was used to moisten straw or other organic material, which was kept moist and allowed to rot for several months to over a year. The resulting salts were washed from the heap with water, which was evaporated to allow collection of crude saltpeter crystals, that were usually refined before being used in making gunpowder.
Textiles
Urine has often been used as a
mordantA mordant is a substance used to set dyes on fabrics or tissue sections by forming a coordination complex with the dye which then attaches to the fabric or tissue. It may be used for dyeing fabrics, or for intensifying stains in cell or tissue preparations. A mordant is always a polyvalent metal ion...
to help prepare textiles, especially wool, for dyeing. In
ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
, the process of "walking" (stretching) the
tweedTweed is a rough, coarse, unfinished woollen fabric, of a soft, open, flexible texture resembling cheviot or homespun, but more closely woven. It is made in either plain or twill weave and may have a check or herringbone pattern...
is preceded by soaking in urine.
Urine was used for dyes such as
indigoIndigo is the color on the electromagnetic spectrum between about 420 and 450 nm in wavelength, placing it between blue and violet. Although traditionally considered one of seven divisions of the optical spectrum, modern color scientists do not usually recognize indigo as a separate division and...
where the urea in the urine reacted with the insoluble dye to form a soluble solution.
Agriculture
Urine contains large quantities of nitrogen (mostly as
ureaUrea or carbamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula
2CO. The molecule has two amine residues joined by a carbonyl functional group....
), as well as significant quantities of dissolved phosphates and potassium, the main macronutrients required by plants. Diluted at least 8:1 with water it can be applied directly to soil as a fertilizer. Undiluted, it can chemically burn the roots of some plants, but it can be safely used as a source of complementary nitrogen in carbon rich
compostCompost is a combination of food material and other organic material that is being decomposed through aerobic decomposition into a rich black soil. The process of composting is simple and practiced by individuals in their homes, farmers on their land, and industrially by cities.Compost soil is...
.
Urine typically contains 70% of the
nitrogenNitrogen is a chemical element that has the symbol N and atomic number 7 and atomic mass 14.00674 u. Elemental nitrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless and mostly inert diatomic gas at standard conditions, constituting 78% by volume of Earth's atmosphere.Many industrially important...
and more than half the
phosphorusPhosphorus is the chemical element that has the symbol P and atomic number 15. A multivalent nonmetal of the nitrogen group, phosphorus is commonly found in inorganic phosphate rocks. Elemental phosphorus exists in two major forms - white phosphorus and red phosphorus...
and
potassiumPotassium is the chemical element with the symbol K , atomic number 19, and atomic mass 39.0983. Potassium was first isolated from potash...
found in urban waste water flows, while making up less than 1% of the overall volume. Thus source separation and on-site treatment has been studied in
SwedenSweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe...
as a way to partially close the cycle of agricultural nutrient flows, to reduce the cost and energy intensivity of sewage treatment, and the ecological consequences such as
eutrophicationEutrophication is an increase in the concentration of chemical nutrients in an ecosystem to an extent that increases in the primary productivity of the ecosystem...
, resulting from an influx of nutrient rich effluent into aquatic or marine ecosystems. The fertilization effect of urine has been found to be comparable to that of commercial fertilizers with an equivalent
NPK ratingNPK rating is the acronym for the ratio of the chemicals nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that are commonly used in fertilizers....
.
However, depending on the diet of the producer, urine may also have undesirably high concentrations of various inorganic
saltA salt, in chemistry, is an ionic compound, and can result from the neutralization reaction of acids and bases. Salts are ionic compounds composed of cations and anions so that the product is electrically neutral...
s such as
sodium chlorideSodium chloride, also known as salt, common salt, table salt, or halite, is an ionic compound with the formula NaCl. Sodium chloride is the salt most responsible for the salinity of the ocean and of the extracellular fluid of many multicellular organisms...
, which are also excreted by the renal system. Concentrations of heavy metals such as
leadLead is a main-group element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metals. Lead has a bluish-white color when freshly cut, but tarnishes to a dull grayish color when exposed to air...
,
mercuryMercury , also called quicksilver or hydrargyrum , is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80...
, and
cadmiumCadmium is a chemical element with the symbol Cd and atomic number 48. The soft, bluish-white transition metal is chemically similar to the two other metals in group 12, zinc and mercury. Similar to zinc it prefers oxidation state +2 in most of its compounds and similar to mercury it shows a low...
, commonly found in solid human waste, are much lower in urine (though not low enough to qualify for use in organic agriculture under current EU rules).
Some have expressed concern as to the health consequences of the hormones and pharmaceuticals found in the human waste stream being recycled through the agricultural system. Proponents of urine as an agricultural fertilizer usually claim the risks to be negligible or acceptable, and point out that sewage causes more environmental problems when it is treated and disposed of compared with when it is used as a resource. Critics counter that more research is needed into how the resource is to be collected, processed and handled.
It is unclear whether source separation and on site treatment of urine can be made cost effective, and to what degree the required behavioral changes would be regarded as socially acceptable, as the largely successful trials performed in Sweden may not readily generalize to other industrialized societies. In developing countries, the application of pure urine to crops is rare, but the use of whole raw sewage (termed
night soilNight soil is a euphemism for human feces. "Night soil" is produced as a result of a waste management system in areas without community infrastructure such as a sewage treatment facility, or individual septic disposal...
in China) has been common throughout history.
Survival uses
Numerous survival instructors and guides, including the US Army Field Manual, advise
against drinking urine for survival. These guides explain that drinking urine tends to worsen, rather than relieve dehydration due to the salts in it, and that urine should not be consumed in a survival situation, even when there is no other fluid available.
During
World War IWorld War I , also known as the First World War, the Great War, and the War to End All Wars, was a global military conflict which involved most of the world's great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances: the Triple Entente and the Triple Alliance...
, the
GermansThe German people are an ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent, and speaking the German language as a mother tongue. Within Germany, Germans are defined by citizenship , distinguished from people of German ancestry...
experimented with numerous poisonous gases for use during war. After the first German
chlorineChlorine Chlorine Chlorine ( , from the Greek word 'χλωρóς' (khlôros, meaning 'pale green'), is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is a halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17 (formerly VII, VIIa, or VIIb). As the chloride ion, which is part of common salt and...
gas attacks, Allied troops were supplied with masks of cotton pads that had been soaked in urine. It was believed that the
ammoniaAmmonia is a compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula NH
3. It is normally encountered as a gas with a characteristic pungent odor. Ammonia contributes significantly to the nutritional needs of terrestrial organisms by serving as a precursor to foodstuffs and fertilizers...
in the pad neutralized the chlorine. These pads were held over the face until the soldiers could escape from the poisonous fumes, although it is now known that chlorine gas reacts with urine to produce
toxic fumesChloramine is a chemical compound with the formula NH
2Cl. It is usually used as a dilute solution where it is used as a disinfectant. The term chloramine also refers to a family of organic compounds with the formulas R
2NCl and RNCl
2...
(see
chlorineChlorine Chlorine Chlorine ( , from the Greek word 'χλωρóς' (khlôros, meaning 'pale green'), is the chemical element with atomic number 17 and symbol Cl. It is a halogen, found in the periodic table in group 17 (formerly VII, VIIa, or VIIb). As the chloride ion, which is part of common salt and...
and Use of poison gas in World War I).
Urine has also been historically used as an antiseptic. In times of war, when other antiseptics were unavailable, urine, the darker the better, was utilized on open wounds as an antibacterial.
Urban myth states that urine works well against
jellyfishJellyfish are free-swimming members of the phylum Cnidaria. Jellyfish have several different morphologies that represent several different cnidarian classes including the Scyphozoa , Staurozoa , Cubozoa , and Hydrozoa Jellyfish (also known as jellies or sea jellies) are free-swimming members of...
stings, and this scenario was demonstrated on an early episode of the CBS-TV show
SurvivorSurvivor is an American version of the Survivor reality television game show, itself derived from the Swedish television series Expedition Robinson originally created in 1997 by Charlie Parsons, and first broadcast in May 2000. Mark Burnett produces the American series. Its host is the former game...
. At best, it is ineffective and in some cases this treatment may make the injury worse.
History
The yellow color of urine was previously thought to come from gold.
AlchemistsAlchemy is both a philosophy and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate wisdom as well as immortality, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties...
spent much time trying to extract gold from urine, and this effort led to discoveries such as white phosphorus, which was discovered by the German alchemist
Hennig BrandHennig Brand was a merchant and alchemist in Hamburg, Germany who discovered phosphorus around 1669.-Early life:The circumstances of Brand's birth are unknown. Some sources describe his origins as humble and indicate that he had been an apprentice glass-maker as a young man...
in 1669 when he was distilling
fermentedFermentation is the process of deriving energy from the oxidation of organic compounds, such as carbohydrates, using an endogenous electron acceptor, which is usually an organic compound. This is in contrast to cellular respiration, where electrons are donated to an exogenous electron acceptor,...
urine. In 1773 the French chemist
Hilaire RouelleHilaire Marin Rouelle was a French chemist. In 1773, he discovered urea. He is known as "le cadet" to distinguish him from his older brother, Guillaume-François Rouelle, who was also a chemist....
discovered the organic compound
ureaUrea or carbamide is an organic compound with the chemical formula
2CO. The molecule has two amine residues joined by a carbonyl functional group....
by boiling urine dry.
The word "urine" was first used in the 14th century. Before that, the concept was described by the now vulgar word "piss".
OnomatopoeticAn onomatopoeia or onomatopœia, from the Greek ὀνοματοποιία , is a word that imitates or suggests the source of the sound that it describes. Onomatopoeia refers to the property of such words. Common occurrences of onomatopoeias include animal noises, such as "oink" or
"meow" or...
in origins, "piss" was the primary means of describing urination, as "urinate" was at first used mostly in medical contexts. Likely, "piss" became vulgar through its use by lower class characters such as the reeve and the Wife of Bath in
Geoffrey Chaucer'sGeoffrey Chaucer was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat, courtier and diplomat. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales...
14th century work
The Canterbury Tales The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories written by Geoffrey Chaucer in the 14th century . The tales are contained inside a frame tale and told by a collection of pilgrims on a pilgrimage from Southwark to visit the shrine of Saint Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral...
. "Piss" and its association with vulgarity has led to its current classification as obscene, as well as its use in such colloquial expressions as "to piss off", "piss poor", and others.
See also
- Ecological sanitation
Ecological sanitation, also known as ecosan or eco-san, is a sanitation process that uses human excreta and household wastewater as resources to be recovered, treated , and reused, instead of as waste...
- Urolagnia
Urolagnia is a paraphilia in which sexual excitement is associated with the sight or thought of urine or urination. The term has origins in the Greek Language ....
, an attraction to urine
- Urination
Urination, also known as micturition, voiding, peeing, and more rarely, emiction, is the process of disposing of urine from the urinary bladder through the urethra to the outside of the body. In healthy humans, the process of urination is under voluntary control; in infants and individuals with...
- Urine therapy
In alternative medicine, the term urine therapy refers to various applications of human urine for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, including drinking of one's own urine and massaging one's skin with one's own urine. A practitioner of urine therapy is sometimes called a uropath...
- Drinking urine
- Bed-Wetting
External links