• Question: when you spin wee what exactly are you looking for ?

    Asked by yoloswaggins99 to Sandra on 11 Mar 2013. This question was also asked by jackhass69, leahyates.
    • Photo: Sandra Phinbow

      Sandra Phinbow answered on 11 Mar 2013:


      Usually we get samples of wee in the lab because the ‘wee-er’ has noticed a problem and have gone to see their GP – they might have noticed some blood in the wee, or that it’s painful to wee. So what we look for are cells- we can see cells that appear when there is an infection – these are called ‘polymorphs’. If we see those then we can believe there is an infection going on. And the patient would have had other tests to confirm this.

      Or we might see cells that are shed from the lining of the bladder, and we look to see if there is a problem with those cells and that’s why the patient is sick. The GP might suspect they have bladder cancer and need us in the lab to confirm it by looking at those cells and to see if they are abnormal or not. Smoking is the biggest cause of bladder cancer.

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