What is Hematuria and What Causes Hematuria?
Hematuria is known as the condition of seeing blood in the urine. There are many reasons for seeing blood in the urine. When blood is seen in the urine, it is absolutely necessary to see a specialist urologist immediately and to find out the reason for the blood in the urine. This is because blood in the urine can sometimes be caused by conditions that need attention. The normal urine color is clear and straw yellow. This color is due to a substance in our blood called urobilinogen. Urobilinogen is present in our body as a substance that emerges with the breakdown of red blood cells. The color of urine can darken due to some diseases and sometimes due to physiological reasons.
Why Does Physiological Color Change Occur in Urine?
Low water consumption throughout the day, taking certain vitamin pills, and consuming beetroot from vegetables and blackberries from fruits cause the urine to turn red, while carrots and high doses of vitamin C cause the urine to turn orange. Stones, sand in the urinary tract, or a probable infection in the urinary tract cause cloudy urine. Diseases of the liver, blood diseases, and metabolic diseases, primarily the kidneys and urinary tract, also cause the urine color to darken.
What Does Hematuria Mean?
The condition known as hematuria in medical terms actually means seeing blood in the urine. There are two types of blood that can be seen in the urine. The first is microscopic hematuria. Microscopic hematuria is hematuria that cannot be seen with the naked eye and can only be seen with a microscope. The other type of hematuria is visible bleeding. Hematuria, meaning the condition of seeing blood in the urine, can be diagnosed with dipstick test strips. Dipsticks are sensitive to even the presence of 1-2 erythrocytes in the urine. If the results from the dipstick are positive, the urine must be examined microscopically. In microscopic examinations, seeing 0-3 erythrocytes in the urine is normal. However, values above three should be considered hematuria. Kidney stones that show no symptoms can cause microscopic hematuria. If the results are much higher than this value, further tests on the urine and blood tests must be performed. Hematuria seen with menstruation in women is called periodic hematuria. This type of hematuria is often seen with a disease called endometriosis. Diseases that cause hematuria can be examined under several categories. These diseases include bacterial and viral infections, kidney stones, urinary tract trauma, polycystic kidney, nephritis, blood diseases, toxic effects of medications seen in urine, and tumors formed in the urinary system are among the leading causes of hematuria. Traumatic hematuria is a temporary hematuria that occurs without any reason and is frequently seen in all age groups. Often, trauma or strenuous exercise just before urination can cause this hematuria. Traumatic hematuria is most commonly encountered in sports such as swimming, tennis, and running, which involve a lot of movement. If hematuria is newly present in a person, the test should be repeated at other times, and the urine test should never be limited to a single instance.
