Urine routine is a routine test, and it is usually done during medical checkups. But the importance of urine routine to determine kidney disease and how to accurately cooperate with doing urine test is not well understood by many friends. What can a routine urine test tell us? Urine routine reflects not the pH, specific gravity, protein, red blood cells, white blood cells and other conditions of urine, which can indicate the type of urinary system diseases. For example, an increase in red blood cells in the urine suggests that there may be kidney disease in the urinary system such as IgA nephritis; an increase in white blood cells suggests inflammation (such as urinary tract infection); a large amount of proteinuria with a high degree of swelling suggests the presence of nephrotic syndrome, which should not be ignored*. What are the precautions for urine collection? Retaining urine may seem extremely simple, but there is a lot to be said for it. If the urine retention method is not correct, it can lead to false positive or false negative results. Urine specimens can be divided into random urine and morning urine. Random urine is commonly used and is easy to collect, but is easily affected by diet, exercise, medications, etc. Morning urine, on the other hand, is not disturbed by the above factors and is most suitable for general urine examination in patients with kidney disease. If morning urine cannot be obtained due to the conditions, then please do not drink a lot of water or milk etc. before retaining urine to avoid diluting the urine and leading to inaccurate results. Collection method: The receptacle should be clean and dry. The urine specimen 2 to 5 ml will be left in a clean container and should be sent for examination as soon as possible after collection, if left at room temperature for too long can make the cells dissolve, thus affecting the test results. If timely examination is not possible, the urine specimen taken must be properly refrigerated. To ensure sensitivity and accuracy, it is best to take the middle section of the urine. This is because the anterior portion of the urine may be mixed with vulvar contaminants, such as white blood cells in the case of vaginitis, or red blood cells when the menstrual period is not completely cleared, which may lead to inaccurate results. If possible, it is best to clean and dry the urethra before taking the urine. When should I have a blood test? When the urine routine shows red blood cells, white blood cells and protein beyond the normal range, further examination of blood indicators such as total protein, albumin, cholesterol and creatinine, as well as immunoglobulins and complement, is needed to further clarify clinical typing and understand changes in kidney function to help clinical diagnosis. If necessary, imaging examinations, such as renal ultrasound, can be done to understand the size and structural changes of bilateral kidneys and whether there are congenital anatomical malformations, which can facilitate early diagnosis and timely treatment.