Short Wave - Micro Wave: Let's Talk About Urine

Episode Date: February 26, 2021

There are lots of misconceptions around urine. Can urine cure athlete's foot? Or really treat a jellyfish sting? Today on the show — we'll talk about what it actually is, debunk some common myths, and share some urine facts.Plus, we dive into some listener mail — which you can send to us by emailing [e-mail] pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy

Hey, y'all. Maddie Safaya here with shortwave producer Thomas Liu. Hi, Thomas. Howdy, howdy. So what do you got for us today? So I was scrolling through Twitter. As you do. And I came across this tweet that really caught me off guard, Maddie. It said, I'm so glad I'm a pediatrician so I can be confident it won't kill my three-year-old. When he drinks the bath water, he just peed into. Thomas, I have a lot of questions about your Twitter feed, but go on.

You know what? I don't judge your Twitter feed, so don't judge. judge mine. Fair, fair. Anyways, the tweet was posted by Scott Hadland, a pediatrician in Boston, and his tweet went a little bit viral. After reading what he posted, you know, I was slightly disgusted at first. But the tweet got me thinking, what else do I not know about urine? A question we should all ask ourselves, honestly.

No, seriously, Maddie, think about it. There are so many misconceptions involving urine, including what it really is. So, naturally, I caught up your right. to clear things up. Urine is actually, it's a big deal. Urine is a very important waste product that we don't celebrate enough. So today's microwave, a celebration of urine. We'll talk about what it actually is, debunk some common miss,

and share some delightful urine facts. Plus, since it's a microwave episode, we've got some listener mail for you. I'm Maddie Safaya. And I'm Thomas Liu. This is Shortwave, the Daily Science Podcast, from NPR. All right, Tilu, we're talking urine. You are going to debunk a couple of common myths about pee. But first, like, what is urine? Right. Let's start there. Here's Dr. Maria Ulocos, a urologist and fellow at San Diego's sexual medicine. Urine is ultimately a body

fluid that is produced by the kidneys, which contains the excreted waste. After our bodies absorb the nutrients and energy from the food and drinks that we consume, some waste and toxins are left behind in our blood, which is then filtered by our kidneys, and from there, urine is created and eliminated. Right, urinary track stuff. But, Thomas, what's actually in urine? That's a great question. It's basically water, anywhere from 90 to 95 percent water, but it's also a mixture of

salts like electrolytes and nitrogen compounds, most notably a compound called urea. And this brings me to my first myth about urine and its role in treating. athlete's foot. Yes. Okay. So I actually know that I know about this one. People will pee in the shower in attempts to get rid of their athlete's foot. Is there any truth to that treatment? Question mark? I asked Maria the same question. And that unfortunately is not true. As someone that loves efficiency as a surgeon, I do understand the idea of wanting to pee in the shower, kill two birds with one stone. But the myth that peeing in the shower and peeing on your feet can actually cure athletes' foot is not true. What is true, Maddie, is that medicine used to treat athletes' foot does contain urea,

that very same compound found naturally in urine. But there's simply not enough in urine to have any effect. What you would be doing is just peeing on your foot. Which, honestly, I mean, for efficiency, I'm behind it. Okay, all right, myth busted. What's the next one? I'm sure you've heard of it. A person gets stung by a jellyfish, and there's this idea that you can pee on the area to somehow neutralize the sting. Yes, yes. I am familiar. I have always been skeptical. You know what I'm saying? So talk to me. Oh, totally, totally. You're not alone in your skepticism. So let's start with why jellyfish stings burn in the first place.

They've got these stinging cells called nidal sites on their tentacles. So if you brush up against a chicken, jellyfish, those cells will attach little barb-like stingers filled with venom into your skin. And then the reason that the sting lasts for, you know, more than 24 hours is that there are cells that continue to release the toxins. Gnarly. That's gnarly. It's wild. Isn't it, Maddie? Yeah, yeah, yeah. And the idea that urine might help likely stems from the idea that saltwater can neutralize

or deactivate these cells. But unfortunately, urine just isn't salty enough to do the trick. So when you use urine, you're likely just moving the stinging cells around at best. And at worse? Watering them makes them produce more toxins and actually makes the burning sensation worse. Ah! All right. You hear that, people?

Do not pee on that stink. Don't pee, y'all. Next up. As you know, Thomas, I am very outdoorsy. And I've heard, like, kind of conflicting stuff about in a, like, emergency near-death situation, can you drink your own urine? Well, the quick answer is yes. There is some truth to that myth. It's a very controversial subject, for sure.

For people that are stuck in the middle of nowhere without any access to nutrients or water or food or safety and their last resort for any sort of sustenance is drinking their urine, that is something that can be done. Like we said earlier, Urine is made mostly of water. So Maria says if you absolutely need to drink your urine once or even a couple times to survive, go for it. But there is a catch.

You can't do it for too long because ultimately if you have no other source of fluid intake, you're only going to be drinking your concentrated urine over and over again. In other words, if you just drink your urine multiple times, you're going to be drinking. a product that's less and less water, but more and more of that waste product. Exactly. You'll start to become dehydrated, not to mention the buildup of waste like urea can cause organ failures and start shutting down your body. Okay.

Noted. Only drink pee once or twice in an emergency. Got it. Hello. Okay. There is one point in time when you drink your own urine a lot. Like when a fetus is in the womb, they are kind of drinking their own urine. over and over and over again.

Okay, I am sensing a weird shortwave tangent. Stay with me here, Maddie. Yeah, I got you. Go on. So as the fetus is developing in the womb, with a constant supply of new blood and nutrients, it's growing the organs and limbs that it needs for a post-wom world. Uh-huh. Okay, waiting on the urine here. Waiting on the urine. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'm getting there.

As the fetus's urinary tract starts to develop, it will begin to produce its own urine. And while the fetus is in the womb, its urine, will drain into the amniotic sac, mixing with the amniotic fluid. And so what happens is that the babies then drink that fluid, and that fluid actually helps in lung development. Oh, that's right. Okay, yes. So what I'm hearing here, Thomas, is there is actually a strong benefit to fetuses

drinking fluid, which technically includes urine. You got it. Okay, dokey. Now that we're both filled with some spectacularly, Magical P-Facts. Let's get to some listener mail. Yeah, I mean, I definitely wouldn't put it like that, Thomas, but let's get to some listener mail. So here's one from Sean, a sixth grade science teacher in Strongsville, Ohio. He's a fan of the show and shares it with his students as part of their weekly assignments.

Yes, yes, yes. I love when we're homework, Thomas, you know? I know. Make kids do work. Here's what he has to say. They have really enjoyed listening to them, and your format seems to peak the interest and curiosity. my students in much the same way it does for me. Love that. And he also included Maddie some letters from his students, one of them from Raphael. Hi, Raphael. Who has a question for you.

He wants to know, what would happen if there was no science? So Madeline, Kelly, Sophia, what would happen? Wow, I mean, this is a deep question. I like this. Here's what I'll say. Rafael, if there are curious people like you in the world, there will always be science. I promise, do not worry.

Yeah, Raphael, listen to Maddie. There will always be science. She knows. And Maddie, here's another one of Sean's students, Jocelyn. Hi, Jocelyn. She wrote to say she loved your interview with Time's first ever kid of the year, scientist and inventor, Ghatanjali Rao. Yes.

After I heard your podcast, I started to feel more confident about science than I usually am. I feel like Gatangeli Rao can inspire a lot of kids like me. Isn't that sweet, Maddie? Yes, yes, I love this. Jocelyn, yes, science is for you. You've got this. And honestly, Gatangeli inspired me too. Very inspiring.

So thank you, Raphael and Jocelyn. And thank you to your teacher, Sean, for sending in these lovely notes from students. We love, love, love getting notes like these. And, Thomas, thank you for this celebration of urine. Honestly, I cannot believe this is our job sometimes. You know what I'm saying? We are indeed very lucky.

Thank you, Maddie. Anyway, T-TYL. Bye, Thomas. This episode was produced by Rebecca Ramirez, edited by Viet Le, in fact-checked by Rasha Airedi. The audio engineer for this episode was Alex Drewenskis. I'm Maddie Safaya. Thanks for listening to Shortwave from NPR.