BRUNZ CHAPTER 5 (Odor, Taste, Volume)

Question 1

Historically, urine odor led to the research and discovery of the metabolic disease_______.

Currently, urine odors, unless remarkably strong or distinctive, are not documented or investigated as part of a routine urinalysis.

Answer 1

phenylketonuria

Question 2

Because urine contains many organic and inorganic substances (byproducts of metabolism), normal urine has a characteristic_____ odor that is typically faint and unremarkable.

However, if normal urine is allowed to stand at room temperature and “age,” it can become particularly______ because of the conversion of____>_____ by bacteria.

Answer 2

aromatic

odorous and ammoniacal

urea to ammonia

Question 3

Normally, urine in the urinary tract is______.

When it passes out of the body via the urethra, it can easily become contaminated with normal bacterial flora from the skin surface.

In an improperly stored urine specimen, these contaminating organisms can proliferate.

Because of this,_____ may indicate that a specimen is old and unsuitable for testing because of the many changes that occur in unpreserved urine

Answer 3

sterile

urine odor

Question 4

However, a patient with a______ can produce an ammonia-smelling urine owing to bacterial metabolism that is occurring within the urinary tract.

The distinguishing factor is that in the latter case, the urine smells distinctly ammoniacal even when it has been freshly voided.

Answer 4

urinary tract infection

Question 5

Severe_______ can cause a strongly pungent or fetid aroma from pus, protein decay, and bacteria.

Before proceeding with testing, it is imperative to determine that urines with strong odors are fresh specimens and that they have been properly stored

Answer 5

urinary tract infection

Question 6

Ingestion of certain foods or drugs can cause urine to have a noticeably different odor.

Foods such as asparagus and garlic or intravenous medications containing phenolic derivatives can result in urine with an_______ aroma

Answer 6

unusual or distinct aroma.

Question 7

Several metabolic disorders may cause urine to have an unusual odor.

For example, conditions of increased fat metabolism with formation and excretion of aromatic ketone bodies produce a_______ urine.

Of these conditions, the most common disorder is______, in which glucose present in the blood cannot be used and body fat is metabolized to compensate.

Patients with these disorders exhibit clinical signs of metabolic dysfunction, and their diagnoses do not rely on the detection of urine odor.

Various urine tests play an important role in the differential diagnosis of these metabolic disorders.

Answer 7

sweet- or fruity-smelling

diabetes mellitus

Question 8

On occasion, a urine specimen can smell strongly of______.

Sometimes the agent was added to the urine specimen intentionally (i.e., the specimen was adulterated) to interfere with testing, particularly when a urine specimen was collected for detection of prescription or illicit drugs.

However, when a household container is used to collect a urine specimen, the cleaning agent may be present by accident (i.e., the container was contaminated before collection).

Regardless of the cause of contamination, the specimen is not acceptable for urinalysis.

Answer 8

bleach or other cleaning agents

Question 9

TASTE
Although historically (_____) urine was tasted to detect the presence of urinary sugars, urine is no longer tasted.

Answer 9

circa 1674

Question 10

The terms_____, meaning “sweet,” and______, meaning
“tasteless,” were assigned to the disease diabetes because of the taste of the urine produced by these two different diseases.

Answer 10

mellitus; insipidus

Question 11

The word diabetes comes from the Greek word_____, which means “to pass through or siphon” and refers to the excessive amount of urine excreted by these individuals.

Despite this similarity, the causes of these disorders are entirely different.

Answer 11

diabainein

Question 12

VOLUME
Although the amount or volume of urine excreted per day is a physical characteristic of urine, urine specimens are not routinely assessed for volume alone.

Volume subsection for a detailed discussion of:
(1) the renal tubular mechanisms involved in water absorption and solute exchange, which ultimately determine urine concentration and the volume excreted,
(2) the association between clinical conditions and the volume of urine excreted, and
(3) the terminology used to describe volume variations.