Jump to content

Urine therapy

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Nathan (talk | contribs) at 17:52, 7 October 2008 (remove some bits not well cited or misleading, partially rewrite the introduction). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Template:Biologically based therapy In alternative medicine, the term urine therapy (also urotherapy, urinotherapy or uropathy) refers to various applications of human urine for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, including drinking of one's own urine and massaging one's skin with one's own urine. A practitioner of urine therapy is sometimes called a uropath [citation needed]. There is no scientific evidence of a medical use for urine, with little or no studies having been published in medical literature.[1] A chemical component of urine, urea, does have some well known commercial and other uses.


History

For thousands of years practitioners of urine therapy have believed urine to have many preventative and curative powers and it has often been referred to as the world's oldest medicine. Some of the earliest cultures have traditionally used urine as a medicine. Written over 5000 years ago a religious Sanskrit text called the Damar Tantra contains 107 verses extolling the medicinal virtues of urine. In the Damar Tantra, urine therapy is referred to as Shivambu Kalp Viddhi, or Shivambu Kalpa (water of Shiva). This ancient Indian text suggests, among other uses and prescriptions, massaging one's skin with aged, concentrated urine. In traditional Tibetan medicine, examination of the patient's urine is one of the main sources of information for a diagnosis as it is today for modern medicine.[2]

Americans have used urine therapy for over 100 years. Dr. Richard Hazeltine described urine therapy in his "Observations on the Medical use of Human Urine" in October, 1810.

In the Indian ayurvedic tradition, urine therapy may be called amaroli. Another name is Shivambu Kalpa, taken from the title of the ancient text Shivambu Kalpa Vidhi. Here, shivambu can be translated as "the waters of Shiva", and refers to the urine.

In 1978, the former Prime Minister of India, Mr. Moraji Desai, a longtime practitioner of urine therapy spoke to Dan Rather on "60 Minutes" about urine therapy and stated it was the perfect medical solution for the millions of Indians who cannot afford medical treatment. Among other modern celebrities, the British actress Sarah Miles has drunk her own urine for over thirty years, in claiming the belief that it immunizes against allergies, amongst other health benefits. [3]

The homeopath John Henry Clarke wrote, "…man who, for a skin affection, drank in the morning the urine he had passed the night before. The symptoms were severe, consisting of general-dropsy, scanty urine, and excessive weakness. These symptoms I have arranged under Urinum. Urinotherapy is practically as old as man himself. The Chinese (Therapist, x. 329) treat wounds by sprinkling urine on them, and the custom is widespread in the Far East. Taken internally it is believed to stimulate the circulation".[4]

In China, the urine of young boys has been regarded as a curative. In Southern China, a baby's face is washed with urine to protect the skin. The French customarily soaked stockings in urine and wrapped it around their necks in order to cure strep throat. Aristocratic French women in the 17th century reportedly bathed in urine to beautify their skin. In Sierra Madre, Mexico, farmers prepare poultices for broken bones by having a child urinate into a bowl of powdered charred corn. The mixture is made into a paste and applied to the skin.[5]

The Koryak tribe of Siberia is reported to have used the Amanita muscaria mushroom as an entheogen, and to have drunk the urine of those using the mushroom in order to experience the effects themselves. Tribesmen who could not afford the mushrooms drank the urine of those who could; tribesmen drank their own urine in order to prolong the experience; and tribesmen on trips carried their own urine with them.[6] They sometimes concentrated their urine by partially freezing it and ingesting the unfrozen liquid.[citation needed] R. Gordon Wasson has theorized that the mythological soma of the Vedic religion was also Amanita muscaria.[6]

Modern claims and findings

Urine's main constituents are water and urea. However, it contains small quantities of thousands of compounds, hormones and metabolites,[7][8] including corticosteroids.[9] Whilst urine and urea have been claimed by some practitioners to have an anti-cancer effect, available scientific evidence does not support individual claims that urine or urea given in any form is helpful for cancer patients. (See references cited below for additional information on published research). [10] In addition, the other chemicals in urine may have a negative health effect when ingested. In 1997, Joseph Eldor, of the Theoretical Medicine Institute in Jerusalem, published a paper suggesting that because cancer cells release antigens which appear in the urine, oral autourotherapy could spur the intestinal lymphatic system to produce antibodies against these antigens.[11]

Whilst urine does not help treat or alleviate disease or illnesses, it is an acceptable substitute to drink if water is scarce. [12] Human urine is normally relatively free of bacteria, since the bladder itself is normally a sterile environment, and drinking small amounts of one's own urine is unlikely to be harmful.[12] However, the urethra does contain bacteria, and this is why urine therapy practitioners use the mid-stream urine and why many physicians ask for a urine sample mid-stream, in order to allow the first few seconds of urination to wash out the bacteria within the urethra.[13] Urinating on jellyfish stings is a common folk remedy, but has no beneficial effect and may be counterproductive as it can activate nematocysts remaining at the site of the sting.

Cameroon's Health Minister Urbain Olanguena Awono warned people against drinking their own urine, believed in some circles to be a tonic and cure for a number of ailments. "Given the risks of toxicity associated with ingesting urine", he wrote, "the health ministry advises against the consumption of urine and invites those who promote the practice to cease doing so or risk prosecution."[14]


See also

References

  1. ^ A wee drop of amber nectar - Telegraph
  2. ^ Health Through Balance: An Introduction to Tibetan Medicine, Yeshi Donden, ed. and transl. by Jeffrey Hopkins, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass Pub., 2003. ISBN 812081519X.
  3. ^ http://www.independent.ie/entertainment/news-gossip/i-cant-wait-to-get-off-this-planet-1081452.html Interview with Sarah Miles in The Independent, September 2007
  4. ^ A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica, John Henry Clarke, London: Homoeopathic Pub. Co., 1900–1902.
  5. ^ Urine therapy, Martin Gardner, Skeptical Inquirer, May-June 1999.
  6. ^ a b The plant kingdom and hallucinogens (part I), Richard Evans Schultes, UNODC Bulletin on Narcotics 21 (1969), #3, pp. 3–16.
  7. ^ Urine Therapy, Jeff Lowe
  8. ^ Clinical value of 24-hour urine hormone evaluations, Alan Broughton, Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients, January 2004.
  9. ^ An Investigation into the Determination of Corticosteroids in Urine. I. The Determination of Corticosterone-like Substances, S. L. Tompsett, Journal of Clinical Pathology 6 (#1, February 1953), pp. 74–77. PMID 13034924.
  10. ^ Urotherapy, fact sheet at the American Cancer Society.
  11. ^ Urotherapy for patients with cancer, J. Eldor, Medical Hypotheses 48 (#4, April 1997), pp. 309–315. PMID 9160284.
  12. ^ a b [1], fact sheet at epnet.com.
  13. ^ Urinary Tract Infections in Adults, fact sheet at the National Institute of Health, publication no. 06–2097
  14. ^ Cameroon threatens to jail urine drinkers, Jane Flanagan, Daily Telegraph, on line, article dated March 15, 2003.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Urine_therapy&oldid=243698722"