Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Urine and Urination
Your kidneys make urine by filtering wastes and extra water from your blood. The waste is called urea. Your blood carries it to the kidneys. From the kidneys, urine travels down two thin tubes called ureters to the bladder. The bladder stores urine until you are ready to urinate. It swells into a round shape when it is full and gets smaller when empty. If your urinary system is healthy, your bladder can hold up to 16 ounces (2 cups) of urine comfortably for 2 to 5 hours.
You may have problems with urination if you have:
- Kidney failure
- Urinary tract infections
- An enlarged prostate
- Bladder control problems like incontinence, overactive bladder, or interstitial cystitis
- A blockage that prevents you from emptying your bladder
Some conditions may also cause you to have blood or protein in your urine. If you have a urinary problem, see your health care provider. Urinalysis and other urine tests can help to diagnose the problem. Treatment depends on the cause.
It sits within Kidneys and Urinary System.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Urine and Urination
2,409 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Sparsentan for the Treatment of VEGF Signaling Pathway Inhibitor-Associated ProteinuriaBrigham and Women's Hospital
- Study of Ravulizumab in Pediatric Participants With Primary IgANAlexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
- Retrospective Cohort Study of Symptoms and Quality of Life in Women With Genitourinary Syndrome of Menopause.Mucosa Innovations, S.L.
- An Open-Label Phase 2 Study of N-Acetyl-D-Mannosamine (ManNAc) in Subjects With Primary Focal Segmental GlomerulosclerosisNational Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI)
- Study of Efficacy and Safety of LNP023 in Participants With Active Lupus Nephritis Class III-IV, +/- VNovartis Pharmaceuticals
- Comparison of the Efficacy of Perineal and Intravaginal Electrical Stimulation in Women With Idiopathic Overactive BladderPamukkale University
Research already completed
- High Intensity Magnetic Stimulation on Urge Urinary Incontinence in Postmenopausal WomenKafrelsheikh University
- Virtual Reality for Urinary Incontinence in WomenWroclaw University of Health and Sport Sciences
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- Urinary Tract and How It WorksNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
- Urine ColorMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
- Urine OdorMayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research
Diagnosis and Tests
- Urinalysis: MedlinePlus Health TopicNational Library of Medicine
- Urination ProblemsAmerican Academy of Family Physicians
- Urodynamic TestingNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Treatments and Therapies
- Urinary DiversionNational Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
Genetics
- Ochoa syndrome: MedlinePlus GeneticsNational Library of Medicine
Statistics and Research
- Study Discovers Gene that Helps Us Know when It's Time to UrinateNational Institutes of Health, Clinical Center
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: DysuriaNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Lower Urinary Tract SymptomsNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: UrinationNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Urination DisordersNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: UrineNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Lower Urinary Tract Symptoms, Urination, Urination Disorders, Urine. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Urine and Urination, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.