Why does urine smell ammonia and what should I do?

The smell of urine affects the concentration of substances that are excreted from the body, diet and other factors. Per day, 1.5 to 2 liters of urine is excreted from the body, usually fresh urine has almost no smell, while consuming coffee, garlic, horseradish, urine can acquire a slight characteristic odor.

If the body is dehydrated, what happens when there is a lack of fluid, intense sweating, diarrhea, vomiting, swelling of urine smells of ammonia.

Causes of the ammonia smell of urine

The main causes of the appearance of the smell of urine include a lack of fluid in the body, diet, taking medications, bacterial diseases of the genitourinary system, prolonged retention of urine in the body.

A person should drink 1.5-2 liters of clean water per day if there is not enough liquid in the body, accumulation of metabolic products occurs, which causes a specific odor of urine.

But the most common reasons for urine to smell ammonia are infectious diseases of the urinary system (bacteria cause inflammation, resulting in sediment, darkening, turbidity, and the appearance of a characteristic odor).

Urine smells ammonia in the child

If there is a smell of ammonia in the urine, the child should immediately seek medical help and take the necessary tests. The characteristic smell of urine in a child appears for the same reasons as in an adult, in childhood, urine smells of ammonia more often due to a lack of vitamin D, which is also manifested by poor appetite, sweating palms, moody behavior, and excess body weight.

The characteristic smell of urine infants can be associated with the diet of the mother, most likely, the woman abused meat products, cabbage, seafood. During feeding, you must follow a diet, take a complex of vitamins.

A number of specialists believe that the smell of ammonia appears on badly washed baby clothes and is not associated with any pathological processes. Determine this can be quite simple - compare the smell of linen and fresh baby urine. If the difference is clear, then you should carefully erase baby clothes, if the difference is insignificant and is observed for more than 3 days, a specialist consultation is necessary.

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Urine smells of ammonia in an adult

In an adult, the smell of ammonia often indicates a urinary system:

• urethritis (in addition to urine smelling ammonia, urination becomes painful, blood clots appear in the urine)
• cystitis (accompanied by frequent urge to urinate)
• pyelonephritis, pyelitis (develop more often on the background of weakened immunity as a secondary disease)
• infectious diseases - often cause not only a specific odor from the genitals, but also a change in the color and consistency of urine.
• systemic diseases (kidney failure, tuberculosis, diabetes, etc.)
• Cancerous tumors often lead to a change in color, consistency and smell of urine
• adenoma, prostatitis make it difficult to urinate, which causes stasis and an unpleasant odor.

Urine smells of ammonia during pregnancy

During pregnancy, urine is practically odorless. Ammonia odor can indicate dehydration, a woman should increase the amount of water consumed per day.

If the water regime is adjusted, but the urine smells of ammonia, there may have been a malfunction in the metabolic processes, which led to the accumulation of acetoacetic acid and acetone in the body. In this case, the woman is also worried about low blood pressure, weight loss, and poor health.

The characteristic smell of urine during pregnancy can occur against the background of diabetes, with a low-carb diet.

The smell of ammonia can appear due to high levels of leukocytes, bacterial or purulent infections (this is indicated by clouding of urine).

An increase in the level of leukocytes can occur due to inflammatory processes in the genitals, cystitis, inflammation of the kidneys, urethra.

And finally, the specific smell of urine in a pregnant woman can be triggered by food, some medications or vitamins.

Diagnostics of the ammonia smell of urine

Diagnosis of conditions in which urine smells of ammonia depends on the disease that provoked the appearance of a characteristic smell. First of all, the doctor prescribes urine analysis, which will show the level of leukocytes, red blood cells and other elements, sediment, impurities.

Further diagnosis depends on the pathology that the doctor suspects, a blood test, ultrasound may be prescribed.

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Treatment of the ammonia smell of urine

Treatment, first of all, depends on the cause that caused the characteristic smell of ammonia.

As already mentioned, most often the cause of a strong smell of urine is dehydration, which can occur due to illness (especially at high temperature, vomiting, diarrhea) or in hot weather. In this case, it is necessary to increase the amount of liquid consumed per day, if the situation is started, medical care may be required, and special saline solutions (Regidron) may be required.

Rarely the reason that urine smells of ammonia, there may be various disorders in the body caused by diseases such as diabetes, inflammation of the kidneys, bladder. Usually, in addition to the smell of ammonia in such cases, there are other symptoms - abdominal pain, frequent urination, fever.

What if the urine smells of ammonia?

If you notice that the urine smells of ammonia, but you do not see any other symptoms (abdominal pain, fatigue, temperature, etc.), you should increase the amount of liquid you drink per day, perhaps a characteristic smell is caused by dehydration of the body. Also, some food can become the cause of the smell, in this case the smell of ammonia will gradually disappear.

In other cases, you should seek the help of a specialist and undergo a survey, medical assistance is also required in cases where a water regime is established, but the ammonia odor remains.

Prevention

Since urine smells ammonia most often due to dehydration, the main preventive methods are the correct water regime, i.e. A day should drink 1.5-2 liters of clean water.

Forecast

The prognosis depends on the cause that caused the ammonia smell of urine. With dehydration in most cases, the prognosis is favorable, after the normalization of the water regime the condition improves, the characteristic odor disappears. If the urine smells of ammonia due to illness, the prognosis depends on the stage and nature of the disease, as well as the timeliness of the treatment started.

Urine smells of ammonia due to pathological processes in the body, but self-treatment in this case is unacceptable, especially in childhood. A routine urine test, which is prescribed by a specialist in the first place, will help to identify existing diseases at an early stage and prevent serious complications.

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