Blood in urine or Hematuria

Seeing blood in your urine can cause anxiety. While in many instances there are benign causes, blood in urine (hematuria) can also indicate a serious disorder.

Blood that you can see is called gross hematuria. Urinary blood that’s visible only under a microscope is known as microscopic hematuria and is found when your doctor tests your urine. Either way, it’s important to determine the reason for the bleeding. Treatment depends on the underlying cause.

Causes

In hematuria, your kidneys or other parts of your urinary tract  allow blood cells to leak into urine. A number of problems can cause this leakage, including:

• Urinary tract infections. Urinary tract infections often occur when bacteria enter your body through the urethra and begin to multiply in your bladder. Symptoms can include a persistent urge to urinate, pain and burning with urination, and extremely strong-smelling urine.

For some people, especially older adults, the only sign of illness may be microscopic blood.

• Kidney infections. Kidney infections (pyelonephritis) can occur when bacteria enter your kidneys from your bloodstream or move up from your ureters to your kidney(s). Signs and symptoms are often similar to bladder infections, though kidney infections are more likely to cause fever and flank pain.
• A bladder or kidney stone. The minerals in concentrated urine sometimes precipitate out, forming crystals on the walls of your kidneys or bladder. Over time, the crystals can become small, hard stones. The stones are generally painless, and you probably won’t know you have them unless they cause a blockage or are being passed. Then there’s usually no mistaking the symptoms  kidney stones, especially, can cause excruciating pain. Bladder or kidney stones can also cause both gross and microscopic bleeding.
• Enlarged prostate. The prostate gland  located just below the bladder and surrounding the top part of the urethra often begins growing as men approach middle age. When the gland enlarges, it compresses the urethra, partially blocking urine flow.

Signs and symptoms of an enlarged prostate (benign prostatic hyperplasia, or BPH) include difficulty urinating, an urgent or persistent need to urinate, and either visible or microscopic blood in the urine. Infection of the prostate (prostatitis) can cause the same signs and symptoms.