Dark Urine Could Indicate A Liver Problem

Urine that is dark orange, amber, cola-colored or brown can be a sign of liver disease. The color is due to too much bilirubin building up because the liver isn’t breaking it down normally. Swollen abdomen (ascites). Ascites happens because fluid is retained in the abdomen

Some liver and kidney disorders and some urinary tract infections can turn urine dark brown. So can bleeding inside the body called a hemorrhage. A group of illnesses that mainly affect the skin or the nervous system, called porphyria, also can cause brown

Jaundice occurs when the diseased liver does not remove enough bilirubin from the blood, causing yellowing of the skin and whites of the eyes and darkening of the urine.

Regular urine color ranges from clear to pale yellow. But certain things can change the color.

Dark urine is most commonly due to dehydration. However, it may be an indicator that excess, unusual, or potentially dangerous waste products are circulating in the body. For example, dark brown urine may indicate liver disease due to the presence of bile in the urine.

The regular color of urine varies. It depends on how much water you drink. Fluids dilute the yellow pigments in urine. So the more you drink, the clearer your urine looks. When you drink less, the yellow color becomes stronger.

Symptoms

When to see a doctor

See your healthcare provider if you have:

1. Blood in your urine. This is common in urinary tract infections and kidney stones. Those problems often cause pain. Painless bleeding might be a sign of a more serious problem, such as cancer.
2. Dark or orange urine. This can be a sign that the liver isn’t working correctly, especially if you also have pale stools and yellow skin and eyes.

What Each Urine Color Means 

1. Red Or Pink Urine

• Red urine isn’t always a sign of a serious health problem. Red or pink urine can be caused by:

Blood. Health problems that can cause blood in the urine include an enlarged prostate, tumors that aren’t cancer, and kidney stones and cysts. Some cancers can cause blood in urine too. Hard exercise, such as long-distance running, also can cause this bleeding.
Foods. Beets, blackberries, and rhubarb can turn urine red or pink.
Medicines. A tuberculosis medicine called rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane) can turn urine reddish-orange. So can a medicine for urinary tract pain called phenazopyridine (Pyridium). Constipation drugs that contain the medicine senna also can bring on this color change.

2. Orange Urine

Orange urine can be caused by:

• Medicines. Phenazopyridine and some constipation medicines can turn urine orange. So can sulfasalazine (Azulfidine), a medicine that lessens swelling and irritation. Some chemotherapy medicines for cancer also can make urine look orange.
• Vitamins. Some vitamins, such as A and B-12, can turn urine orange or yellow-orange.
  Health problems.
• Orange urine can be a sign of a problem with the liver or bile duct, mainly if you also have light-colored stools.
• Dehydration also can make your urine look orange.

3. Blue Or Green Urine

Blue or green urine can be caused by:

• Dyes. Some brightly colored food dyes can cause green urine. Dyes used for some kidney and bladder tests can turn urine blue.
• Medicines. A medicine for depression called amitriptyline can make urine look greenish-blue. So can treatment for ulcers and acid reflux called cimetidine (Tagamet HB). A water pill called triamterene (Dyrenium) also can turn urine greenish-blue.
• Urine can turn green due to medicine for pain and arthritis symptoms called indomethacin (Indocin, Tivorbex). Green urine also can be caused by propofol (Diprivan), a strong medicine that helps people sleep or relax before surgery.
• Health problems. A rare disease called familial benign hypercalcemia can cause children to have blue urine. Urinary tract infections caused by a certain type of bacteria can cause green urine.

4. Dark Brown Or Cola-Colored Urine

Brown urine can be caused by:

• Food. Eating lots of fava beans, rhubarb or aloe can cause dark brown urine.
  Medicines. Some medications that can darken urine are:
• Chloroquine and primaquine, which treat and prevent malaria.
  The antibiotics metronidazole (Flagyl, Metrocream, others) and nitrofurantoin (Furadantin, Macrobid, others).
• Constipation medicines that contain senna (Senokot, Ex-Lax, others).
  Methocarbamol (Robaxin), a muscle relaxer.
• The seizure medicine phenytoin (Dilantin, Phenytek).
• Medicines called statins lower cholesterol.
• Health problems. Some liver and kidney disorders and some urinary tract infections can turn urine dark brown. So can bleeding inside the body called a hemorrhage. A group of illnesses that mainly affect the skin or the nervous system, called porphyria, also can cause brown urine.
• Extreme exercise. A muscle injury from extreme exercise can cause tea- or cola-colored urine. The injury can lead to kidney damage.

5. Cloudy Or Murky Urine

• Urinary tract infections and kidney stones can cause urine to look cloudy or murky.

Risk factors
A change in urine color that isn’t due to foods or medicine could be caused by a health problem. Some things that put you at risk of health problems that can affect urine color are:

• Age. Tumors of the bladder and kidney, which can cause blood in the urine, are more common in older people. Men older than 50 sometimes have blood in the urine due to an enlarged prostate gland.
• Family history. If any of your blood relatives, such as a parent, sibling or grandparent, have kidney disease or kidney stones, you’re more likely to get them too. Both kidney disease and kidney stones can cause blood in the urine.
  Hard exercise. Distance runners are most at risk. But anyone who exercises hard can have blood in the urine.

CULLED FROM: MAYO CLINIC