Hello,
Dark urine can have multiple causes. The most common is simply
dehydration causing the urine to be more concentrated and thus darker. Less common causes of dark urine can be the presence of blood in the urine, but I would expect that to have more reddish pigments. Blood in the urine can be associated with
urinary system infections,
renal stones or other bleeding.
Darkening of the urine can be seen in patients with
liver conditions, especially if the bile ducts are blocked from permitting the bile to enter the intestines, causing more bile to be present in the blood which is then released into the urine.
This can also be associated with a significantly lighter, or more pale stool from not having bile in the GI tract. Severe muscle damage is also a less common cause of dark urine when muscle breakdown products enter the urine. It is called
myoglobinuria. It is usually associated with very serious conditions or major trauma.
A
primary care doctor can easily start the process of evaluating why a patient's urine is darker. If the dark urine persists in spite of drinking plenty of water, and ruling out it is not from eating beets or rhubarb, then a primary care physician can order tests as simple as a
urinalysis to check for blood or other substances in the urine.
Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.
Regards,
Dr. Matthew Jones