ALBUMINURIA, a general name for conditions in which the urine contains proteid matter. Normally the secreting and conducting parts of the urinary system hold back in the blood, out of which the urine is formed, all protein. But when the kidney is diseased (see KIDNEY, DISEASES OF), whether-primarily or secondarily, its efficiency as a filter is impaired and albumin appears in the urine. As a rule this is in the form of serum albumin and serum-globulin, but occasionally it occurs as albu moses (albumosuria). Under certain conditions the urine may contain albumin in individuals apparently quite healthy (physio logical albuminuria). The most common cause is strenuous mus cular exertion, but in some individuals there occurs, intermittently, an albuminuria (paroxysmal albuminuria) which appears without obvious cause beyond perhaps a trivial exposure to cold. Cases in which the urine contains blood (haematuria) or its colouring matter (haemoglobinuria), both of which are proteins, are not included under albuminuria. Owing to its importance as a symp tom, its existence in a candidate for life assurance is usually re garded by the company as a complete bar to acceptance of the risk. In inflammatory conditions of the bladder and urethra, albumin is often present in the urine, in a sense as an accident.
(W. S. L.-B.)