One of the roles of your kidneys is to remove toxins and waste materials from the blood. If it also removes some blood from the bloodstream, then it is definitely not normal. Such is what’s referred to by doctors as hematuria. For everyone else, it’s simply called having blood in the urine.

However, it’s important to note that just because you have blood in the urine doesn’t necessarily mean that there is something wrong with the kidneys that needs to be identified and treated. Later on in this article, you will learn about them as well as those causes that pertain to kidney-related issues.

Aside from the common causes of hematuria, reading on will also get you acquainted with some other really important matters about it, such as their signs and symptoms. Don’t forget to repost this article afterwards to get your family and friends know hematuria better, too.

Causes

There are many different reasons why blood may be present in the urine. But just like what’s earlier said, not all cases of hematuria are related to a problem concerning the kidneys. Some examples of causes of hematuria that are not due to kidney issues are:

Menstruation 

Intense or strenuous exercise 

An infection such as a urinary tract infection or UTI 

Injury 

Sexual activity

But then there are also cases of hematuria that are brought about by kidney problems. According to health authorities, some of them include:

Kidney cancer 

Polycystic kidney disease

 Inflammation of the kidneys

Other medical issues that may also cause blood to be present in the urine include urinary bladder cancer, sickle cell disease, diseases that affect blood clotting, irritation or swelling of the prostate gland, and problems with certain parts of the urinary tract.

Signs and Symptoms

There are some instances in which hematuria can cause the color of your urine to change. However, that’s not always the case. That’s because it is possible for your urine to have a normal color but blood may be present in it, too.

Gross hematuria is the kind of hematuria in which your urine has a different color. Sometimes it can be red or pink, while other times it can be brown. The resulting color basically depends on the amount of blood that is present in the urine. Having gross hematuria, according to doctors, may also cause the person to have blood clots in the urine. When this happens, it’s not just a change in the color of the urine that may be encountered, but also a lot of pain.

Microscopic hematuria is the term used for describing hematuria which requires the use of a microscope in order to confirm the presence of blood. It’s because the urine does not contain a lot of blood, unlike in the case of gross hematuria. This only means that your urine’s color remains normal.

Doctors say that anybody can have hematuria. However, there are some people who are at higher risk of having it. Some of them include:

Those with a family history of kidney disease 

Individuals who are prone to getting kidney stones 

Men who have swollen or enlarged prostate 

People who engage in intense or strenuous exercise 

Anyone who just had an infection 

Those who are taking certain medications like antibiotics, blood thinners and painkillers

Treatment

Because there are so many different reasons for having blood in the urine, treatment for it varies. In fact, some of them do not require any treatment at all.

For hematuria cases that are due to medical conditions, it’s important to determine the root cause so that the appropriate treatment for it may be done. For instance, something that’s due to a bacterial infection calls for the intake of antibiotics.