Bloody Urine

Why do some ppl sometimes get blood in their urine? I have this guy who told me abt his situation and i cant believe what i heard.

Bloody Urine

As the list that DMC provided indicates, there are lots of causes for blood in the urine (hematuria).

For persistent or intermittent hematuria:

Very Common Causes
stones
infections
taking blood thinners

Common Causes
tumors
microscopic disorders of the kidney (i.e. glomerulonephritis)
prostate disorders
trauma

Rare Causes
congenital malformations of the blood vessels in the urinary tract

In assessing the cause of hematuria, among other things, one needs to know how long the bleeding has been going on, if there’s any associated pain, symptoms of infection (burning, frequency, etc), symptoms of something else wrong in the body in general (weight loss, drenching sweats, joint problems, rashes,…), and what medicines the patient’s taking.

Everyone with hematuria should see a doc. Everyone with the problem will need a proper urinalysis performed, and most people will need a check for infection in the urinary tract. Many will require an ultrasound or CT of the abdomen, and some will also need to undergo a cystoscopy (a pleasant procedure where a flexible tube/telescope is inserted into your urinary tract).

A couple of “factoids”:

  • even a few drops of blood will make a litre of urine “obviously” bloody
  • no one bleeds to death from blood in the urine (well, almost no one)

You didn’t mention where your friend comes from. But in parts of Africa and the Middle East, a common cause of blood in the urine is infection with the parasite, Schistosoma haematobium which causes schistosomiasis, also known as bilharziasis.

Some years ago, while visiting Niger, I was told that S. haematobium was so common among men that blood in the urine was thought to be normal and the male equivalent of menstruation. However, this was before safe, inexpensive, and effective treatment became available. Since then, “big pharma” has developed and distributed for free the drug praziquantel (Mectizan [Merck]).

Bloody Urine- Yet another band name!