Urine that is dark orange, amber, cola-coloured or brown can be a sign of liver disease. The colour is due to too much bilirubin building up because the liver isn't breaking it down normally.
If your urine is dark or orange — particularly if you also have pale stools and yellow skin and eyes — your liver might be malfunctioning.
Urinalysis is often used to check your general health. It can also help diagnose liver problems and many other medical conditions.
If your urine is cloudy, brown, blue, or green and doesn't return to a pale straw color, schedule an appointment to speak with a doctor.
Diabetes can cause cloudy urine when too much sugar builds up in your urine. Your urine may also smell sweet or fruity. Diabetes can also lead to kidney complications or increase risk of infections of the urinary tract, both of which can also make your urine appear cloudy.
The most optimal color for your urine is a pale yellow. If it is a darker yellow or orange, it can mean you are becoming dehydrated. An orange urine could indicate a serious liver condition. Darker brown can be caused by foods or medication.
Blood tests used to assess the liver are known as liver function tests. But liver function tests can be normal at many stages of liver disease. Blood tests can also detect if you have low levels of certain substances, such as a protein called serum albumin, which is made by the liver.
Stage 1: Inflammation
In the early stages of liver disease, the liver will become swollen or inflamed as the body's natural response to injury. Liver inflammation, or hepatitis, can also occur when there are more toxins in the blood than the liver is able to manage. The earlier the diagnosis, the better.
So what does liver pain feel like? It manifests in different ways, but a common form is a dull throbbing. For some people, it occurs as a sharp, stabbing pain. Sometimes the pain migrates to other nearby areas, such as the right shoulder blade and the back.
There are at-home liver panel tests that can determine liver function by screening for proteins and enzymes like albumin, globulin, ALP, ALT, and GGT. These tests use a finger-prick sample and include materials to collect and send your specimen to the lab. You can order a liver panel from home and get tested in a lab.
Pain in your liver itself can feel like a dull throbbing pain or a stabbing sensation in your right upper abdomen just under your ribs. General abdominal pain and discomfort can also be related to swelling from fluid retention and enlargement of your spleen and liver caused by cirrhosis.
Dark brown urine occurs in kidney failure due to the buildup of waste products in urine or urinating less often and in smaller amounts than usual. Foaming or fizzing urine may also be a sign of kidney failure, though foam is not a color and usually occurs due to increased protein in urine or kidney disease.
Light-brown or tea-colored urine can be a sign of kidney disease/failure or muscle breakdown.
Jaundice is when your skin or the whites of your eyes turn yellow. It can be a sign of something serious, such as liver disease, so you need to get urgent medical help.
Drinking a large amount of water is essential for your liver's detoxification. It removes the toxins and flushes the liver tissues.
The liver is very resilient and capable of regenerating itself. Each time your liver filters alcohol, some of the liver cells die. The liver can develop new cells, but prolonged alcohol misuse (drinking too much) over many years can reduce its ability to regenerate.
A group of blood tests called liver function tests can be used to diagnose liver disease. Other blood tests can be done to look for specific liver problems or genetic conditions. Imaging tests. An ultrasound, CT scan and MRI can show liver damage.
The liver is part of the body's natural detoxification system, which helps filter out toxins. Foods that support liver health include berries, cruciferous vegetables, beans, whole grains, nuts, and fatty fish. Coffee and green tea contain antioxidants that are helpful for liver health.
When you're healthy and hydrated, your urine should fall somewhere between colorless and the color of light straw and honey. When you don't consume enough fluids, your urine becomes more concentrated and turns a darker yellow or amber color.
Ideally, your urine would be a pale yellow in color. This would indicate you're hydrated. Urine naturally has some yellow pigments called urobilin or urochrome. The darker urine is, the more concentrated it tends to be.
The most common color of urine is yellow, which is caused by the presence of urobilin , a biochemical waste product generated from the breakdown of old red blood cells. (Your body makes about 2 million new red blood cells every day, and recycles an equal number of old ones.)