Foamy Urine - Symptoms, Causes, Risk Factors, Diagnosis and Treatment

What Is Foamy Urine?

The color of the urine is usually pale yellow to amber or dark yellow and is also flat. A lot of factors such as diet, drugs, and disease can cause changes in the color of the urine and foaminess of the urine.

Urine could be foamy when the bladder is full, and sometimes, hitting the toilet fast enough to stir the water foams it up. But when it becomes more noticeable over time, see a doctor as this could be a sign of protein in the urine (proteinuria), which requires further evaluation. Increased protein levels in urine could indicate a severe kidney problem, and so the doctor may recommend a urine test to check for elevated protein levels in urine. When the test is positive, the doctor will refer for further tests to determine the cause of the problem.

What Are the Symptoms Associated With Foamy Urine?

Urine can foam up once in a while, usually due to the speed of urine flow. When it happens more frequently, it is a sign of disease, and it gets worse over time. Also, look for other symptoms when the urine is foamy. The following symptoms could be clues for any underlying medical condition for foamy urine.

• Swelling in the hands, feet, face, and abdomen could signify fluid buildup from damaged kidneys.

• Fatigue.

• Nausea.

• Vomiting.

• Trouble sleeping.

• Loss of appetite.

• Changes in the amount of urine produced.

• Darker colored urine.

• Dry orgasms or releasing very little semen during orgasm.

• Cloudy urine.

• Infertility or having difficulty making a female partner pregnant.

What Are the Causes of Foamy Urine?

The following are the causes of foamy urine,

1. The most common cause of foamy urine is the speed of urine flow. It will be just as water foaming up from the tap quickly, and so the urine foams up when it hits the toilet quickly.

2. Sometimes, urine also foams up when it becomes concentrated. The urine is more concentrated when you do not drink much water when dehydrated.

3. Foamy urine also indicates too much protein, such as albumin, in the urine. The protein in the urine will react with the air to create foam.

4. Usually, kidneys filter excess water and waste products from the blood into the urine. Protein and other essential substances of the body are too big to fit the kidney's filters, so they are left in the bloodstream. When the kidneys get damaged, they cannot filter as they do, and so the damaged kidneys allow too much protein to leak into the urine. This is called proteinuria, which is a sign of chronic kidney disease or end-stage renal disease.

5. Foamy urine can also occur due to retrograde ejaculation. It is a condition in which semen moves back into the bladder instead of being ejaculated from the penis.

6. Amyloidosis also causes foamy urine, fluid buildup, and problems in the kidneys. It is a rare condition caused by the buildup of a specific protein that can affect many organs.

7. Taking Phenazopyridine (Pyridium) medicine is another less common cause of foamy urine. This medication is used to treat the pain from urinary tract infections (UTI).

8. Sometimes, the problem is just the toilet cleaning chemicals that can make the urine look foamy. When this is the cause, the foam will stop as soon as the chemicals are flushed out of the toilet.

What Is the Process Behind the Formation of Foam?

Foam forms by trapping gas in liquid with surfactants, which have both hydrophilic and hydrophobic properties. They gather at air-water interfaces, forming bubbles. Soap's cleansing action arises from its amphiphilic nature, while beer foam, or "beer head," depends on barley-derived Lipid Transport Protein 1.

Apart From Proteins, What Other Compounds Present in Urine Contribute to the Formation of Foam?

In addition to proteins, certain amino acids like methionine and tyrosine, exhibiting amphiphilic properties, can contribute to foam formation in urine. Conditions such as Fanconi syndrome and proximal tubular dysfunction disorders may lead to excessive amino acid excretion.

Is Foamy Urine Suggestive of Conditions Beyond Proteinuria?

Phospholipids, present in cell membrane lipid bilayers, possess amphiphilic properties. It is conceivable that ruptured cells releasing these phospholipids in urine, as in cases of microscopic hematuria and/or pyuria without proteinuria, could aid in urine foam formation.

What Are the Risk Factors of Foamy Urine?

A full bladder can cause foamy urine, making the urine stream more forceful and faster. The urine also gets foamy when it is more concentrated due to dehydration or pregnancy. Increased protein levels in the urine also cause foaminess which is due to underlying kidney disease. Kidney disease most commonly occurs due to,

• Diabetes.

• High blood pressure.

• A family history of kidney disease.

The causes of retrograde ejaculation are,

• Diabetes.

• Drugs used to treat enlarged prostate, high blood pressure, or mood.

• Surgery on the urethra or prostate.

• Nerve damage from multiple sclerosis and spinal cord injury.

How Is the Cause of Foamy Urine Diagnosed?

The causes of foamy urine are diagnosed by,

1. A urine sample is taken to test protein levels in the urine.

2. A urine test taken over 24 hours compares albumin levels to creatinine levels (substances produced when muscles break down). This is known as the urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR). This ratio will help to identify whether the kidneys are filtering the blood. When the UACR is higher than 30 milligrams per gram, it could be kidney disease. In order to confirm, the doctor will do other tests to check whether the kidneys are working.

3. When retrograde ejaculation is a suspected cause for foamy urine, the doctor will check for sperms in the urine.

How Is Foamy Urine Treated?

Treatment for foamy urine will depend on its cause.

1. Treatment for Dehydration:

When the urine is concentrated, drink more water to relieve dehydration and to stop the foaming.

2. Treatment for Diabetes and High Blood Pressure:

When foamy urine occurs due to kidney damage, treat the underlying cause, that is, diabetes and high blood pressure.

Diabetes - High blood sugar damages the kidneys, so:

• Eat a balanced diet and plan for a regular exercise schedule to help treat diabetes.

• Test the blood sugar levels often to make sure it is within a healthy range.

• Take medicines that lower blood sugar levels.

High Blood Pressure -

• One should also have to plan the diet and stay active for high blood pressure.

• Limit the salt and protein in the diet as it brings the blood pressure down and prevents the kidneys from working so hard.

• Take the prescribed anti-hypertensive medications like calcium channel blockers, diuretics.

• Also, anti-hypertensive drugs like angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers protect the kidneys from additional damage.

Treatment for Retrograde Ejaculation:

This condition does not require treatment unless one want to be a father or the dry orgasms bother them. The drugs used to treat retrograde ejaculation closes the bladder neck so that semen cannot get inside the bladder. Those drugs are,

• Brompheniramine.

• Ephedrine.

• Pseudoephedrine.

• Imipramine.

• Phenylephrine.

• Chlorpheniramine.

Conclusion:

Foamy urine is not a problem as it happens once in a while, but it should be given immediate care when it is noticed continuously over time. So, if one experience foamy urine, do not worry and seek a doctor’s help to identify any underlying cause.