[workerbee]

I’m thankful for modern medicine. And thankful that there were folks like Hippocrates, and all the way up til the 14th or 15th century, who actually TASTED people’s urine to try and determine their illness.

I’m also thankful that I’m not one of them.

[jazusamo]

That’s gotta be why urinalysis tests are so expensive, they can’t find many to taste it.

[Slings and Arrows]

IIRC, tasting urine was the standard test for diabetes well into the 19th century. It wasn’t a compliment if he said “You’re so sweet!”

[firebrand]

If it’s sweet, you have high blood sugar. If it’s cloudy, you have kidney problems. It it’s darker than it should be, you have hepatitis (also if the other stuff that comes out is lighter than it should be). I don’t know what the other colors mean.

[redhead]

"And thankful that there were folks like Hippocrates, and all the way up til the 14th or 15th century, who actually TASTED people’s urine to try and determine their illness."

The urine of people with diabetes is sweet to the taste. "Melitus" means something like, "honey-like" Hippocrates knew that people with sweet-tasting urine had big problems, but we can discover the same thing today with testing equipment, from simple strips to elaborate electronic machines.