Causes for blood in the urine:
* Blood in the urine can come from any condition that results in infection, inflammation, or injury to the urinary system.
* Typically, microscopic hematuria indicates damage to the upper urinary tract (kidneys), while visible blood indicates damage to the lower tract (ureters, bladder, or urethra). But this is not always the case.
* The most common causes in people younger than 40 years of age are kidney stones or urinary tract infections.
* These may also cause hematuria in older people, but cancers of the kidney, bladder, and prostate become a more common concern in people older than 40 years of age.
* Several conditions causing hematuria may exist at the same time.
* Some causes of hematuria are serious, others are not. Your healthcare provider will perform tests to help tell the difference.
The well-known causes of blood in the urine include the following:
* Kidney stones
* Infections of the urinary tract or genitals
* Blockage of the urinary tract, usually the urethra - by a stone, a tumor, a narrowing of the opening (stricture), or a compression from surrounding structures
* Cancer of the kidney, bladder, or prostate
* Kidney disease
* Blood clotting disorders
* Injury to the upper or lower urinary tract, as in a car accident or a bad fall
* Medications - Antibiotics [for example, rifampin (Rifadin)], analgesics such as aspirin, anticoagulants [blood thinners such as warfarin, (Coumadin)], phenytoin (Dilantin), quinine (Quinerva, Quinite, QM-260)
* Benign (noncancerous) enlargement of the prostate - known as benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH), a common condition in older men
* Chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and sickle cell anemia
* Viral infections
* Inflammation of the kidney - usually of unknown cause
* Strenuous exercise, especially running - results from repeated jarring of the bladder
