What does glucose in urine mean?

[Xynne]

I had a general check up today at the doctor, just doing bloodpressure and giving a urine sample, with the normal questions. She quickly checked my sample and said I have glucose in my urine, that this could be a sign of kidney problems or a "water infection", but that it's probably nothing serious and that she would just bin it. At the time I just thought "Ah okay, no biggy then." but reading online later I feel it's a bit more serious than how she took it? I have not had a blood sample taken so I don't know my bloodsugar levels, nor did she tell me anything specific about the urine sample, so my question is should I be concerned and go back with another sample? I feel fine, no urinary tract infection, I'm 25 years old, my bmi is 20.1, no one in my family has any kind of diabetes or cancer so I am just wondering if I should be worried or forget about this? Oh and I'm definitely not pregnant :)

[Dr. Chan Lowe]

Hello Xynne,

Normally, all the glucose in urine is reabsorbed by the kidneys. There is a specific amount of glucose that can be reabsorbed during a specific period of time. If there is too much glucose in the urine it cannot be fully reabsorbed and subsequently is spilled into the urine. This would occur when the blood sugar is too high or if the kidney is not functioning properly.

There are various things that can cause this. The first thing many people think of is diabetes because the elevated blood sugar results in overloading the kidneys and failure to reabsorb all the glucose. However, this is only one of a number of things that can do this. Some are transient and harmless.

I would suggest you first have the urinalysis repeated and check your blood glucose level. Your primary care doctor can help sort all this out for you.

Best wishes.