Urine therapy or urotherapy, (also urinotherapy, Shivambu,[a]uropathy, or auto-urine therapy) in alternative medicine is the application of human urine for medicinal or cosmetic purposes, including drinking of one's own urine and massaging one's skin, or gums, with one's own urine. No scientific evidence exists to support any beneficial health claims of urine therapy.
History
Though urine has been believed useful for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes in several traditional systems,[1][b] and mentioned in some medical texts,[c] auto-urine therapy as a system of alternative medicine was popularized by British naturopath John W. Armstrong in the early 20th century. Armstrong was inspired by his family's practice of using urine to treat minor stings and toothaches, by a metaphorical misreading of the Hebrew Biblical Proverb 5:15 "Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well", and his own experience with ill-health that he treated with a 45-day fast "on nothing but urine and tap water". Starting in 1918, Armstrong prescribed urine-therapy regimens that he devised to many thousands of patients, and in 1944 he published The Water of Life: A treatise on urine therapy, which became a founding document of the field.[6][8]
Armstrong's book sold widely, and in India inspired the writing of Manav mootra (Gujarati: Urine therapy; 1959) by Gandhian social reformer Raojibhai Manibhai Patel, and many later works. These works often reference Shivambu Kalpa, a treatise on the pharmaceutical value of urine, as a source of the practice in the East.[d] They also cite passing references to properties and uses of urine in Yogic-texts such as Vayavaharasutra by Bhadrabahu and Hatha Yoga Pradapika by Svatmarama; and Ayurvedic texts such as Sushruta Samhita, Bhava Prakasha and Harit. However, according to medical anthropologist Joseph Atler, the practices of sivambu (drinking one's own urine) and amaroli recommended by modern Indian practitioners of urine therapy are closer to the ones propounded by Armstrong than traditional ayurveda or yoga, or even the practices described in Shivambu Kalpa.[6]
Urine-therapy has also been combined with other forms of alternative medicine.
An exhaustive description of the composition of human urine was prepared for NASA in 1971. Urine is an aqueous solution of greater than 95% water. The remaining constituents are, in order of decreasing concentration: urea 9.3 g/L, chloride 1.87 g/L, sodium 1.17 g/L, potassium 0.750 g/L, creatinine 0.670 g/L and other dissolved ions, inorganic and organic compounds.[12][13]
In China there is a Urine Therapy Association which claims thousand of members.[14][15]
According to a BBC report, a Thai doctor promoting urine therapy said that Thai people had been practicing urophagia for a long time, but according to the Department of Thai Traditional and Alternative Medicine, there was no record of the practice.[16] In 2022, Thawee Nanra, a self-proclaimed holy man from Thailand, was arrested by police; his followers were observed consuming his urine and feces which they believed to have healing properties.[17]
Urinating on jellyfish stings is a common "folk remedy".[18] This does not help with jellyfish stings, and can in fact be counterproductive, activating nematocysts remaining at the site of the sting, making the pain worse.[18][19] This is because nematocysts are triggered by the change in the concentration of solutes (e.g. salt), such as when freshwater or similarly-composed urine is applied to the site.[19] The myth originated from the false idea that ammonia, urea, and other compounds in urine could break down the nematocysts: however, urine is much too low in concentration to have those effects.[18]
Urine and urea have been claimed by some practitioners to have an anti-cancer effect, and urotherapy has been offered along with other forms of alternative therapy in some cancer clinics in Mexico.[20] No well-controlled studies support this, and available scientific evidence does not support this theory.[20]
In January 2022, Christopher Key, a spreader of COVID-19 misinformation, claimed that urine therapy is the antidote to the COVID-19 pandemic.[25] Key also falsely claims that a 9-month research trial on urine therapy has been conducted.[26] There is no scientific evidence supporting urine therapy as a cure for COVID-19.
According to the American Cancer Society, "available scientific evidence does not support claims that urine or urea given in any form is helpful for cancer patients".[20]
In 2016 the Chinese Urine Therapy Association was included on a list of illegal organizations by the Ministry of Civil Affairs. However, the Municipal Bureau of Civil Affairs in Wuhan said they had no jurisdiction over the association.[15]
^Urine was recommended for whitening teeth in ancient Rome.[2] Islamic legist Abu Yusuf allowed for use of camel urine for medicinal purposes.[3] It has also been used in some traditional remedies in Mexico[4] and in Nigeria.[5]
^Such as Solomon's English Physician published in 1665, One thousand notable remedies published in early-nineteenth century,[6] and A Dictionary of Practical Materia Medica published in 1902.[7]
^Shivambu Kalpa (lit. "water of Shiva") is said to be a section of the larger work Ḍamara Tantra, which is described by practitioners of urine therapy as "belong to the Puranic age". According to Joseph Atler the 107-shlokaKalpa is not well attested or in wide circulation, and is most easily accessible through modern Indian books on urine therapy, where it is often attached as an appendix.
^Robert Todd Carroll (September 12, 2014). "Urine Therapy". The skeptic's dictionary: a collection of strange beliefs, amusing deceptions, and dangerous delusions. Retrieved April 5, 2015.
