Urinalysis KEY PLTW: HBS

Case Study #1 A 40-year-old, overweight, pregnant woman comes in for her routine appointment. She is 28 weeks pregnant, complaining that she is constantly thirsty and saying that she spends all of her time running to the bathroom. She has been feeling more lethargic than normal lately and she has lost some weight. No abnormal cells were found in her urine sample but lab results revealed the presence of glucose.

Case Study #1 Explanation The woman has gestational diabetes.

Case Study #2 An 18-year-old male comes in for his annual physical. He is a cross country runner who is currently training to run a marathon. He feels healthy and energized and has no complaints about his health. In fact, he just finished a rather strenuous training session. Microscopic analysis of his urine does not reveal anything abnormal but lab results revealed the presence of small amounts of protein.

Case Study #2 Explanation This young man is healthy, but is pushing his body to the limit. The small amounts of proteins in his urine are the result of excessive exercising.

Case Study #3 A 23-year-old female comes in for an emergency appointment. She complains of a strong, persistent desire to urinate, a burning sensation during urination, lower back pain and, a low-grade fever. Her urine is cloudy and microscopic analysis of her urine reveals leukocytes and some crystals.

Case Study #3 Explanation The woman has a Urinary Tract Infection (UTI).

Case Study #4 A 60-year-old woman comes in for her annual physical. Even though she usually has a lot of energy, she has been unusually tired for the past few weeks. She occasionally feels dizzy and she is finding it harder to sleep through the night. Her ankles and feet are swollen and her face looks a bit puffy. She frequently feels a burning pain in her lower back, just below the rib cage. She has noticed that her urine is darker in color lately. Preliminary workup shows she has elevated blood pressure. Some red blood cells are present in her urine and laboratory test results also show the presence of some proteins.

Case Study #4 Explanation Renal Failure: The woman displays symptoms of chronic kidney failure.

Conclusion Question #1 Based on what you know about the function of the nephron, why should urine be free of blood cells?

Conclusion Question #1 Answer The nephron's job is to filter waste products out of the blood and to allow reabsorption o f nutrients into the blood. If blood is found in urine, that means that there is a problem in the filtration being done by a person's nephrons. The nephrons are filtering the red blood cells out of the person's blood and putting them in urine, taking that blood away from the body. The nephrons should only be filtering out waste products from the blood, not the blood itself from the body.

Conclusion Question #2 Urinalysis is an important diagnostic tool for the determination of medical disorders. However, urinalysis has many other uses. Describe one other reason a person may have his/her urine tested.

Conclusion Question #2 Answer Urinalysis can be used to determine if there are drugs circulating throughout the body. Some workplaces require regular urine testing (drug tests) in order to be sure that an employee has not been taking any illegal drugs. Testing a person's urine can also show whether or not they are pregnant.

Conclusion Question #3 Explain why diagnostic tests are classified as a type of medical intervention.

Conclusion Question #3 Answer Diagnostic tests are classified as a type of medical intervention because they are examinations, treatments or any kind of preventative course of action for a patient so that a physician may intervene with the problem using the correct treatment in order to help a person get better.

Conclusion Question #4 Explain the effect of one of the conditions described in the case studies on the overall power of the human machine. Make sure to think about how the disease may relate to water, oxygen or food.

Conclusion Question #4 Answer (Note there are many correct responses here.) If glucose is in the urine and the patient has diabetes that means that they are excreting the energy they are eating in food instead of it being absorbed by the cells for energy.