What do phosphates in urine mean?

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What do urinary phosphates show? Does this mean that the child has a bad diet? Do phosphates mean disease? Are phosphates associated with urinary tract infections? The question is answered by the drug. Katarzyna Darecka.

What does the presence of phosphate in the urine show?

Hello. Every year I do my kids the basics preventive examinations. I got the results a few days ago and was very surprised that the older daughter (12 years old) has elevated phosphate in the urine. The results of the younger daughter (8 years old) are fine. My question is – what does it mean that I have phosphate in my urine? Whether phosphates in the urine in a child that there is something wrong with her diet? Is this a sign that the child is already sick?

I try not to give the girls too much sweets, but from time to time we eat cookies and candy bars together, although I often buy sweet drinks for my daughter for school because she likes them very much. However, I try not to overdo it. Every day I serve them classic Polish cuisine, sometimes we eat pizza. I buy sweets on average every two weeks (sometimes more often, sometimes less often). Are these phosphates in the urine a symptom of some urinary tract infection?

I read on the internet that the presence of amorphous phosphates (unless I mistook the name) is something positive? Are the phosphates in my daughter’s urine the same as the aforementioned amorphous phosphates? Greetings, Anna.

The doctor explains what phosphates in urine mean

Amorphous phosphates they are not necessarily positive, they are simply irrelevant to the clinician, they are more common in people who have a high vegetable diet or if their urine is alkaline or neutral.

In your daughter’s case, are the phosphates in the urine amorphous? It’s hard for me to say without looking at the lab result.

However, if there is a suspicion of a pathologically increased excretion of phosphate in the urine a XNUMX-hour urine collection can be performed. It is on the basis of this study that it can be determined whether urine phosphate levels is actually significantly elevated, whether it was simply a diet-dependent change.

Phosphate is composed of phosphorus, which together with calcium is responsible for building bones and teeth. However, this is what the kidneys control the level of phosphorus in the body by its excretion or resorption.

If it is confirmed in the XNUMX-hour urine collection that excretion of phosphorus in the urine is too high, it may indicate various diseases, incl. kidney disease, too much vitamin D in the body, primary hyperparathyroidism. Too low phosphate values ​​in the urine may be a sign of kidney disease, liver disease, eating disorders or osteomalacia.

However, if there is an increase or decrease in phosphate excretion in the urine, it does not necessarily mean that there is a disease that must be treated absolutely. Children in particular have higher levels of phosphate in their urine because they are still growing and continually remodeling their bones. Diet may also have an influence on the occurrence of an increase in the excretion of phosphate in the urine.

In the case of your daughter, the most likely cause of phosphate in the urine is the continuous remodeling of the skeleton associated with the intense growth, as a result of which phosphorus is released from the bones into the bloodstream and then into the kidneys. This is not a cause for concern, but in case of any doubts, contact a specialist in the field of pediatrics, he will certainly answer your questions.

– Lek. Katarzyna Darecka

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