Does drinking urine cure joint pains?
Instead of drinking urine to cure illness, people need to seek advise from a doctor. file photo
What you need to know:
People have eaten cattle hooves for backache or drank their own urine to cure body pains, all in vain, yet a visit to a doctor could have helped them deal with the problem better
Dear Doctor: I have a friend who drinks urine every morning to ease joint pains. He says it actually works. Is this true? Can I also drink urine because whenever I jump on the stairs, I develop pain in the knees?
Frida Bonabaana
Dear Frida: Many people with chronic ailments may get desperate and try out anything that is rumoured to cure their condition.
People have eaten cattle hooves for backache or drank their own urine to cure body pains, all in vain, yet a visit to a doctor could have helped them deal with the problem better.
When we eat food, it is digested and absorbed in the body. The body then processes the food into useful substances which, after use, the resultant products are released in the urine, some of which are said to treat diseases including joint pains.
What is questionable is why such substances need to be expelled in urine first, before they turn medicinal. Joint pains are caused by several factors, which need to be investigated and appropriate treatment offered.
Some joint pains, however, may be eased but not cured completely, requiring continuous or even reviewed medication, sometimes supervised by a specialist.
Please seek medical treatment for your knees instead of contemplating drinking a waste product such as urine.
