Q: Good day Dr. I went for a lab test and the result came out that I have protein in my urine. Please can you educate me more about it? Thanks.
A: Hey! Thanks for writing in.
In another version of this question I received a while back, the poster also asked whether eating too much protein can be dangerous sometimes and perhaps was the reason for protein in urine.
So, we’ll go through it again.
Protein molecules/particles in blood are typically too large to be filtered into urine so that normally, very little/low amount is present in the urine as healthy kidneys do a great job of filtration.
Therefore, when protein is found in urine, it is abnormal and usually suggestive of the fact that the kidneys may be malfunctioning. This condition is known as proteinuria and the most common relevant protein suggestive of kidney disease is albumin.
This can be detected using a dipstick test. How would you know without this test? Well, the urine could get very frothy if a lot of protein is being passed out in the urine…so that’s something to look out for.
There is a condition known as temporary proteinuria, which occurs in people with high fever and after very vigorous exercise. This is not a problem and as the name suggests, it is temporary.
Proteinuria is also common in concentrated urine samples like first thing in the morning and when dehydrated. In some instances, it is found in young children later in the day even when it was not evident in the morning in a condition known as orthostatic hypertension (This condition, also known as postural hypertension, is a medical condition that presents as a sudden and abrupt increase in blood pressure when a person stands up). Again, this is not suggestive of a bigger problem
What diseases can cause protein in urine?
Kidney disease, especially those affecting the filtering units. Diabetes can affect these filtering units
Urinary tract infections
People with proteinuria are more at risk of heart disease and so it is key to monitor blood pressure and ensure one lives a healthy lifestyle.
Treatment depends on the cause. Please be guided by your doctor!
I’m sure you’ve all heard about the outbreak of Lassa fever in some states in Nigeria. Just in case you wondered what all of that means, here’s a quick class.
Lassa fever is a viral haemorrhagic fever. This essentially means that this sort of fever interferes with the body’s natural ability to form clots when bleeding occurs and can also damage the walls of small vessels encouraging leakage of blood with resultant internal bleeding. It is also infectious.
Transmission to humans is usually from contact with food or other household items that have been contaminated with faeces or urine of infected rat (Mastomys). Person to person transmission can also happen through direct contact with the bodily fluid (urine, blood, faces etc) of an infected person.
Symptoms include: fever and general weakness, followed by nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headache, headache, cough, sore throat etc. This may progress to bleeding, facial swelling, seizures etc
Treatment of this disease using anti-viral drug, Ribavarin, appears effective especially if started early and so the focus is on early diagnosis and prompt treatment, if infected and on prevention for those not infected.
Prevention is focused on good hygiene which makes it difficult for rats to thrive. Tips to help with this include:
X Disposal of food far from the living environment and on a regular basis
X Storage of grains and other food stuff in containers that are ‘rodent-proof’
X Clearing of surrounding bushes around your house
X Ensuring doors and windows shut properly and have tight-fitting screens
X Other general hygiene tips like consistent hand washing, wearing personal protective equipment by staff in healthcare settings to guard against body fluid splashes etc suffice.
Remember that family members caring for people with this disease may be exposed to their bodily fluids and so absence of hygiene measures at home and indeed in hospital settings encourages this infection to spread.
Here are points to remember:
Avoid spreading food in places where rats have access to them eg grains, garri, yam chips for amala, plantain chips etc
The practice of eating tasting raw garri in the market and even drinking it (as quite a number of people like to do J) may not be a great idea now as you don’t know how this was processed.
If you believe your house may be infested by rats, please fumigate immediately. In the meantime, be sure to thoroughly clean and disinfect all surfaces especially in the kitchen. Indeed, starting the day by pouring a kettle of hot water all over the plates on your plates rack may be a great idea.
If you eat rats (and yes, some people do…especially the big ones which look almost human ), please give it a rest.
And do not forget your personal hygiene. Wash your hands and often too. If you cannot wash your hands at any given time, use hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Be sure to wash your hands as soon as you can afterwards. Remember that sanitizers are not suitable for visibly dirty hands.
Please maintain your private space. Do not sneeze or cough into people’s faces.
If you’re caring for anyone with the infection, observe the rules of barrier nursing.
The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control can be contacted: Toll Free on: 6232; Whatsapp on: +234 708 711 0839; SMS on: +234 809 955 5577 to report any suspected case of Lassa Fever.
After 14 days of walking, dancing, sweating, and choosing health… I found myself thinking about my own journey with weight, motherhood, travelling and forgetting to keep my wellness hat on, and starting again.
I remember those years before I had my first baby! I see some of those pictures and I gaze in awe. Those must have been the days when my mum would jokingly say I made skirts out of half a yard of fabric! I had my first baby and once she was six weeks old, I was back on the beat doing my exercises to get back to my BC (before child) status. My Yoruba aunt-in-law could not understand this and my utter lack of disregard for the plates of amala et al she attempted to serve up for my eating pleasure. I was determined to get back to my BC status and the earlier that happened the better. This worked pretty well in this instance and before long, I was exactly how I wanted to be.
Then came along baby number 2…and suddenly, it wasn’t so easy to get back to my pre-pregnancy state. I managed it at the end of the day though…but it was with tightly gritted teeth, loads of sweat and oodles of perseverance. I realized at this time that my days of eating like a horse and burning it all off were gone. Oh, I used to be able to wolf down calories that even the fast food joints would shudder at, and not show a bit of spare flesh. What happened to that fantastic metabolic rate? It up and died on me because, it now appeared that even when I smelt food, I added weight ! 😊 Honestly…I could almost swear!
Then came baby number 3 and my metabolism finally gave up. Every food I ate was duly converted to calories and stored in embarrassing areas of my body like my lower belly and my hips. I’m one of those lucky ones that their arms and wrists don’t really ‘swell’ up whenever they add weight…but consider that I was unlucky in every other way as I added weight in every other place 😊 Again, I worked at it, even harder this time and I was motivated by the fact that I’d been bought a couple of clothes to wear post pregnancy, and so they provided sufficient motivation to get with the crunches and sit-ups. And finally, the clothes fit!
In between, I tried some magic berry pills that were supposed to speed up your metabolism so fast it made your head spin! Mark you, I’m a doctor so I wasn’t looking for anything that had any side effects that could affect my health. Nope, I wanted to do it naturally, but hey, if a pill helps, why not?! Yes? Well, I can tell you for a fact that my head spun, not from how fast my metabolism was converting fat to muscle but by how I could have ever considered there was an easier way…than sweating and grunting through it!
Did it get better afterwards? Nope, it became a constant battle to get the weight off and make it stay that way. I have this friend who wolves down everything in sight and yet, nothing happens. But not me! I finally made my peace with this new me…Ketch AC (After Children :D) a couple of years ago and realized that this is my new reality…I add weight when I smell food 😊 So I can either stay down and whine about it or get up and do something about it. And do something about it, I did. I committed to exercising at least five days every week or walking at least 5000 steps every day. I committed to reducing my portions and eating right. I made friends with beans, vegetables and fruits. Now, for some reason I never liked fruits. I could go for months (I think it would be absolutely embarrassing to say I could go for perhaps a year) without tasting (yes tasting…not even eating) a single fruit and then on some other occasions, I would get the craving for oranges and sit down with a knife in front of a basket of oranges and finish it off! I had to find a way of incorporating fruits into my diet. And that’s when I really discovered smoothies. Now my life is not complete without my brew on a daily basis. I have even gone days on smoothies only…the weight just peeled off and I assure you that even the most recalcitrant tummy would go flatter (depending on how much work has to be done, of course) on a diet of smoothies!
I’m not and never have been a huge fan of fad diets. I think they place a lot of restrictions on you which make them impracticable and thus easily abandoned. So, for all of you who have written in asking for how to lose all that belly fat and perhaps if there’s a magic pill, here’s my answer. It is hard work…plain and simple. First focus on portion control. Start by reducing the size of your plate. If you eat with a bowl, go for a plate. If you eat with a flat plate with a circumference that could hold the globe 😊 go for a smaller one etc. Then make sure that you focus on eating healthier foods. Half the plate should be filled with veggies, a quarter with protein and a quarter with carbs. Focus on complex carbs like brown rice, potatoes, yams, oats etc. Your palm is actually a good measure of how much you should eat and before you pelt me with rotten tomatoes for saying this, I’ve actually got very small palms so I’m suffering through this too 😊
Then, exercise. This could be in the gym or through your regular activities. If you are a stay-at-home mum, dancing while doing your house chores, may not be what you have in mind when you look at a full house of chores, but it could start you on your fitness journey. And if you have a housekeeper, don’t ask her to do everything, get up and do some stuff yourself. Taking a walk in the evening when everyone is back, is also helpful. Going to the gym is a great way to start your day. In the office, move around some more…to the printer, to the bank, to the restaurant for lunch. Don’t call for everything.
And then, try and reduce your stress level…I can almost hear your ‘yeah, right! How do I do that?’ Well, stress is a normal part of life and in fact is needed to give you the regular push to get and go every morning. Find out your sources of stress and figure out solutions to them. For those you can’t find solutions for, let them go. No problem has ever been solved by stressing out over them. During stressful times, we are more likely to make wrong food choices. You may feel too lethargic to go anywhere and want to grab a quick food fix on your desk…where you’ve been sitting all day!
So that’s it…in as simple and plain a way as I could put it. These are the ABCs of losing weight…and we all keep working at it. And the truth is, even today, I’m still on this journey… one healthy choice at a time.
So, join me and let’s keep each other honest!
If you’re on your own BC-to-AC journey, tell me in the comments: what is ONE change you are working on right now?
What began as a simple wellness challenge became something truly beautiful.
For 14 days, you showed up. You walked. You danced. You shared your stories. You reminded one another that health is not a big dramatic moment… it is the small daily choices we make again and again.
We celebrated winners, we learned new habits, and most importantly – we proved that wellness is possible, one step at a time.
To everyone who participated, followed, commented, shared, and quietly decided to live a little healthier… thank you.
To our wonderful winners who have not yet picked up their prizes, please kindly do so within the next two weeks. After this period, the prizes will no longer be available for collection. We truly appreciate your understanding and look forward to celebrating you fully.
A special note for Amb Ikwueme Ngozi – she also shares meaningful wellness content on her page. I encourage you to follow her and continue learning from the good work she is doing in the wellness space.
Thank you both for showing up, sharing your healthy steps, and being part of this journey. Your commitment reminds us that wellness is built one small decision at a time.
Please send a message inbox to our page fb.com/HealthyLivingWithDrKetch so we can share details on how to receive your pedometer.
And to everyone else, Day 14 is here – the final day! You could still be our next winner.
Today marks the final day of the 14 Days of Wellness with Dr Ketch.
For the past two weeks, we have taken small steps together – walking, stretching, dancing, sharing, encouraging and reminding ourselves that health is built one simple choice at a time.
To everyone who participated, commented, followed, shared,
and quietly cheered from the background – Thank you truly, from the bottom of my heart!
This challenge may be ending today, but your wellness journey is only just beginning.
And remember – You don’t need a challenge to take care of your heart, your body, your mind, and your family.
Just one small healthy step, every single day.
Final Day Reminder
To qualify for today’s last pedometer giveaway:
1. Follow this page
2. Comment ONE of these below:
• One healthy thing you did yesterday
OR
• One healthy habit you promise to continue after today
Today’s winner will be announced tomorrow morning.
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