Bumisuka.com – 5 Health Risks of Drinking Urine to Watch Out for. The mass trial of two alleged perpetrators of sexual harassment at Gunadarma University received public attention after a viral video showing the two of them being forced to drink urine. The development of the case has now ended peacefully between the alleged victim and perpetrator.
From a health point of view, urine is a liquid produced by the body as a result of excretion by the kidneys. Urine is made up of fluids and waste products that the body doesn’t need. Based on this, urine is not something that is common for human consumption.
Then what if urine is drunk, will there be any negative effects on the body? Let’s find out what are the potential risks of consuming urine for health.
1. Infected with bacteria
Urine leaving the kidneys must pass through the urethra and come into contact with the skin. In this process, urine becomes not sterile because it is contaminated with bacteria. Even in healthy people, urine still has bacteria.
A study in The Pan African Medical Journal in 2010 found that there were different types of bacteria in the urine of 100 children tested. These bacteria include:
- Salmonella.
- Pseudomonas.
- Shigella.
- Escherichia coli (E. coli).
- Staphylococcus.
Drinking urine, whether it’s one’s own or someone else’s, can make individuals who drink it threatened with various diseases. This is because introducing bacteria into the body can cause digestive problems or other infections. It’s not dangerous unless the bacteria starts to grow out of control.
While the bacteria don’t cause infection in everyone who consumes urine, it does increase the risk of infection, especially in people with weakened immune systems and young children.
2. Experiencing dehydration
Reported by Healthline, urine contains concentrated salt and minerals. To process these salts, the kidneys need a certain amount of water. Meanwhile, to compensate for the increased salt intake, you have to excrete more water than you get from your urine.
With its diuretic properties, urine actually increases the risk of dehydration. That’s because the salt in the urine tends to reduce the amount of water the body can use. In this context, drinking urine is declared not useful for increasing body fluid levels.
Experts also do not recommend drinking urine when there is no clean water because urine contains salt and harmful waste. In fact, reported by the United States Army Field Manuals page, there are instructions for soldiers not to drink their own urine in a survival situation.
3. Electrolyte imbalance
With salt and other electrolytes, drinking urine can change electrolyte levels in the body. Someone who is already dehydrated can experience dangerous electrolyte imbalances if they drink urine, especially in large quantities.
An unbalanced amount of electrolytes can cause electrolyte disturbances. Mild electrolytic imbalances may not cause any symptoms. However, symptoms usually appear once the imbalance becomes more severe.
Possible symptoms of electrolyte imbalance include:
- Dry mouth and thirst.
- Nervous.
- Confused.
- seizures
- Numbness or tingling.
- Constipation.
- Nausea or vomiting.
- Slow or irregular heartbeat.
- It’s hard to breathe.
4. Disturbance of drug function
Many drugs are excreted in the urine after processing by the body. The drug leaves the body in a condition similar to when it entered the body. That means the drugs were not broken down and contained in the urine.
By drinking urine that contains drugs, it means you put it into the body. If it is a drug that is already taken, it will increase the dose beyond that prescribed. Meanwhile, drinking someone else’s urine can introduce foreign drugs into the bloodstream.
Quoting WebMD, taking drugs that don’t match the dosage requirements can cause dangerous reactions and serious health complications.
5. Impacted by toxic substances
Our urinary system is specially designed to remove toxic substances from the body. When harmful substances start to accumulate in the body, urine is one way to get rid of them. So, any substance that is filtered by the kidneys from the body will be excreted in the urine.
By drinking urine, you consume toxins that have been excreted by the body. This can lead to kidney damage or disease, as these organs have to work even harder to process the increased concentrations of toxic substances.
From a health point of view, drinking urine is not beneficial for us. On the other hand, there are various health risks from it. It is not recommended to drink urine because of the content of bacteria, poisons and drugs in urine. You don’t want your health to be at stake, do you?