Have you ever seen blood in your urine?

Hematuria or blood in your urine may have alarmed you the first time. However, the underlying cause for hematuria may or may not be a sign of a serious medical condition. The best way to approach hematuria is by consulting with our urologist in Dubai to identify the reason behind the presence of blood in your urine.

In this blog, we are discussing the most common causes of hematuria in men and how to deal with them without worrying about it right from the start.

Causes of Hematuria

If you look closely at the functioning of your kidneys, you will understand that urine is nothing but the waste filtered from your blood. Every minute, half a cup of your blood is being filtered by your kidneys to produce the concentrated waste we call urine. 

Urine is normally rich in sodium, uric acid, calcium, sugar and other toxins that are not needed for the body, along with the excess water. Your urine may also contain traces of RBCs or red blood cells even on a normal day. However, higher levels of RBC in your urine are what is constituted as hematuria.

Blood in the urine can be due to different reasons. Here are some of them:

 

• Kidney stones

 

One of the most common reasons for the presence of blood in urine is kidney stones. While kidney stones do form in women, men are two times more at risk. Men during the ages of 20 to 50 are generally at a higher risk of suffering from kidney stones.

Kidney stones are small crystallized substances found in urine like calcium, oxalate and uric acid. While most stones are small and pass away in the urine, the bigger ones may block the urethra leading to extreme pain. Often times, the stones will injure the urethral wall leading to the presence of blood in the urine.

 

• Bladder or kidney infections

 

While bladder and kidney infections are not common, blood in your urine may be a sign of an infection in these regions. These infections are identified with the help of a routine urine test and require immediate medical attention. However, with the right treatment from our urologist, the condition will be completely cured in a couple of weeks.

 

• Enlarged prostate

 

Prostate enlargement is very common in older men who are above the age of 50. The prostate is a gland found in the pelvic region next to the bladder. When the gland enlarges, it tends to press against the bladder leading to frequent urination. In extreme conditions, this can injure the urethra or bladder, leading to the presence of blood in the urine.

 

• Medications like aspirin, penicillin

 

Some medicines like aspirin, sulfa drugs or antibiotic medicines like penicillin can lead to the presence of blood in your urine. These drugs when consumed can lead to thinning of your blood. This can sometimes cause the kidney to filter out RBCs into the urine, leading to hematuria.

 

• Kidney tumors and cancers

 

The presence of benign or malignant tumors in the kidney can cause hematuria. This is one of the most dangerous conditions for which the blood in your urine is an indication. Kidney cancer may also cause blood clots in the urine, which requires immediate medical attention.

Assessment of Hematuria

To assess the reason for your hematuria, our urologist will check your medical history by asking the possible reasons for the appearance of blood in the urine. This will be followed by a test called urinalysis. Further tests like urine cytology may also be needed to identify whether the reason is minor or major.

There is no specific treatment for hematuria, as the symptoms are not very specific. Instead, underlying causes are treated, if one can be found. Consult with our in-house urologist today to seek medical attention for your condition.