What might blood in the urine indicate?

In this article below, revered consultant urologist, Mr Rajiv Pillai, outlines what might be the leading causes of blood in the urine, and details how the cause of blood in the urine is diagnosed.

What might blood in the urine indicate?

Blood in the urine can be quite a scary symptom to experience, especially seeing blood at the end of the bulb after you pass urine. It's a symptom that needs to be investigated fairly promptly.

If you see blood in the urine, there can be up to a one in five chance of an underlying tumor or cancer, be it in the kidneys, prostate, bladder, or somewhere in the urinary tract. Cancer is not the only diagnosis, but there could be infection or stones or indeed another underlying condition.

How is the cause of blood in the urine typically detected?

It is vitally important to get tested by a urologist promptly if you notice blood in the urine. A urologist will take a prompt history and look at any risk factors such as smoking or exposure to dyes, chemicals, or heavy metals, or see if there's any previous history of blood in the urine.

One would then go into doing tests, for example, a check dipstick in the urine or sending the urine away to check for infection. The two mainstays of investigations are usually a CT scan in the form of checking the kidneys and the upper tracks, such as the pipes that come down from the kidneys for cancer, and also looking in with a camera into the bladder and the urethra to check if there's any underlying tumor.

If you have noticed blood in your urine, seek medical attention urgently. To book an appointment with Mr Rajiv Pillai, simply head on over to his Top Doctors profile today.