Urine Therapy

Urine therapy or urotherapy, (also urinotherapy, Shivambu,[a] uropathy, or auto-urine therapy) in alternative medicine is the application of human urine for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, including drinking of one's own urine and massaging one's skin, or gums, with one's own urine. No scientific evidence exists to support any beneficial health claims of urine therapy.

Urine Therapy

Though urine has been believed useful for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in several traditional systems,[1][b] and mentioned in some medical texts,[c] auto-urine therapy as a system of alternative medicine was popularized by British naturopath John W. Armstrong in the early 20th century. Armstrong was inspired by his family's practice of using urine to treat minor stings and toothaches, by a metaphorical reading of the Biblical Proverb 5:15 "Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well", and his own experience with ill-health that he treated with a 45-day fast "on nothing but urine and tap water". Starting in 1918, Armstrong prescribed urine-therapy regimens that he devised to many thousands of patients, and in 1944 he published The Water of Life: A treatise on urine therapy, which became a founding document of the field.[6][8]

Armstrong's book sold widely, and in India inspired the writing of Manav mootra (Gujarati: Urine therapy; 1959) by Gandhian social reformer Raojibhai Manibhai Patel, and many later works. These works often reference Shivambu Kalpa, a treatise on the pharmaceutical value of urine, as a source of the practice in the East.[d] They also cite passing references to properties and uses of urine in Yogic-texts such as Vayavaharasutra by Bhadrabahu and Hatha Yoga Pradapika by Svatmarama; and Ayurvedic texts such as Sushruta Samhita, Bhava Prakasha and Harit. However, according to medical anthropologist Joseph Atler, the practices of sivambu (drinking one's own urine) and amaroli recommended by modern Indian practitioners of urine therapy are closer to the ones propounded by Armstrong than traditional ayurveda or yoga, or even the practices described in Shivambu Kalpa.[6]

An exhaustive description of the composition of human urine was prepared for NASA in 1971. Urine is an aqueous solution of greater than 95% water. The remaining constituents are, in order of decreasing concentration: urea 9.3 g/L, chloride 1.87 g/L, sodium 1.17 g/L, potassium 0.750 g/L, creatinine 0.670 g/L and other dissolved ions, inorganic and organic compounds.[12][13]

According to a BBC report, a Thai doctor promoting urine therapy said that Thai people had been practicing urophagia for a long time, but according to the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, there was no record of the practice.[16]

Urine and urea have been claimed by some practitioners to have an anti-cancer effect, and urotherapy has been offered along with other forms of alternative therapy in some cancer clinics in Mexico.[19]

In the Arabian Peninsula, bottled camel urine is sold by vendors, as prophetic medicine with its claimed urine therapy, health benefits.[20][21][22] Saudi police arrested a man, "because the urine in the bottles was his own".[23]

In January 2022, Christopher Key, a spreader of COVID-19 misinformation, claimed that urine therapy is the antidote to the COVID-19 pandemic.[24] Key also falsely claims that a 9-month research trial on urine therapy has been conducted.[25] There is no scientific evidence supporting urine therapy as a cure to the COVID-19 disease.

In 2016 the Chinese Urine therapy Association was included on a list of illegal organizations by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, the Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs in Wuhan, said they had no jurisdiction over the association.[15]

Even today there are number of alternative medical practices based in the teachings of Ayurveda that allow for urine consumption. Ayurveda, the ancient holistic healing system of India, is grounded in a spiritual view of life. Its practitioners have advocated urine therapy as a treatment for asthma , arthritis , allergies , acne , cancer , indigestion , migraines , wrinkles, and a host of other conditions.

Although no medical evidence supports urine as an effective treatment for any of these (or other) illnesses, scientific studies have shown that some components of urine have medicinal properties. Most notably, urea (which, next to water, is the primary component of urine) possesses antibacterial, antifungal, and antiviral characteristics. And, it should be noted that research is underway to investigate the potential of other urinary substances to treat infertility and specific forms of cancer.

Even urine therapy advocates warn of the dangers of excessive urine consumption. During a worldwide conference of urine therapy practitioners, the Chinese Association of Urine Therapy warned that drinking urine has negative side effects, including diarrhea , fatigue, fever, and muscle soreness; and these symptoms increase with the amount of urine ingested.

Before modern medicine, various cultures had innovative ways to manage health. The early Egyptians, Chinese, Indians, Aztecs and Romans reportedly used urine as a treatment for various ailments, such as to heal battle wounds or whiten teeth.

There was some logic to these practices. For example, without access to clean water, urine might be used to wash a wound. Or in the absence of a gas mask, a urine-soaked rag could be used to filter out nasties during a chlorine gas attack.

With our current health and treatment options, there is no reason to engage with any form of urine treatment. And there is no scientific evidence drinking urine or engaging in any other urine therapy has benefits.

Apart from urea and creatinine, more than 3,000 different compounds have been found in urine. This means, as we learn more about the urinary system, future screening for a wide variety of health issues, including cancers, might be obtained through a simple urine test.

This means urine might contain environmental toxins and other nasties your body has worked hard to remove. Some medications are also excreted in urine, so drinking it can accumulate toxic levels of these drugs. In some cases urine can also have pathogenic bacteria that, if ingested, can cause serious diarrhoea, nausea, vomiting, an upset stomach and infections.

The bottom line is there are no scientifically supported benefits for urine therapies. If you need a particular treatment, you should talk to your doctor rather than turning to a urine-based prospect.

Whatever you want to call it, the practice of drinking urine goes back millennia. Known today as urine therapy, urophagia, or urotherapy, the medicinal use of urine is still practiced in some parts of the world.

Reports dating back to ancient Rome, Greece, and Egypt suggest that urine therapy has been used to treat everything from acne to cancer. There was a time when doctors tested for diabetes in urine by taste.

Urine has always interested and attracted the attention of people. It was in fact never considered a waste product of the body but rather as a distilled product selected from the blood and containing useful substances for the care of the body. It was referred to as the "gold of the blood" and "elixir of long life," indicating its therapeutic potential. This paper reports on the practice of urine therapy since its origin attributed to the Indian culture, and briefly reviews its use through the centuries and different cultures and traditions. Records from the Egyptians to Jews, Greeks, Romans and from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance testify to the practice of urine therapy--a practice that continues to be found in more recent times, from the 18th century to the present. Experiences with the practice of urine therapy have even been discussed and shared recently in 2 different conferences: in 1996 in India and in 1999 in Germany, where people from different countries shared and presented their own research on urine therapy.

Oral intake of freshly voided morning urine has been recommended for many diseases such as viral or bacterial infections. Symptoms reported during the first days of oral intake of urine include nausea, vomiting, headache, palpitations, diarrhea or fever. Several substances in the urine are believed to be important for oral intake such as urea, uric acid, cytokines, hormones or urokinase. Local urine therapies include embrocations, compresses for local tumors, whole body bath or foot bath in the urine, use of urine as eye drops, ear drops or nose drops and the use of urine for wound cleaning.

Dehydration is not an issue when urine is consumed for its supposed medical benefits. But can there really be benefits? Attendees at the World Conference on Urine Therapy think so. There have been five such events to date, each one attracting an audience of hundreds, with appropriate autourine pee breaks for participants who come to listen to physicians and scientists give evidence about their supposed clinical work.

Former Prime Minister of India Morarji Desai, who lived up to the age of 99, has been the most well known proponent of this therapy. He claimed that India would have been better off if more people used this extremely inexpensive and effective way of treatment. He also attributed to AUT the credit for his longevity. In this century it was the Englishman John Armstrong who was the urine therapy pioneer with his work and with his book -The Water of Life, famous both in West and East.

Human urine controls bile in the blood, destroys worms, cleans intestine,control cough & calms the nerves. It is sharp in taste, destroys laziness & is an antidote to positions.-Yoga Ratnakar [Mutrashtakam V. II ]

The complex biochemical processes and physiological functions in the body are directly or indirectly influenced by certain internal and external factors of the organism. Shivambu is the product of such widely exposed, but still dynamically balanced human organism. Hence contents and ingredients of Shivambu are dependent on internal and external environment of the organism. And it is because of this reason in modern medicine; urine is tested and chemically analyzed for diagnostic investigations. 041b061a72