By: Keith A. Waguespack, M.D.
When going to the restroom one day, you notice that your urine looks a bit pink. You think it might be blood. What should you do? First, don’t panic. Blood in your urine, known medically as hematuria, does not necessarily indicate prostate cancer or a fatal disease. While you should not panic, you should see your doctor.
Two Types of Hematuria
There are two types of hematuria, gross (macroscopic) and microscopic. Microscopic hematuria means the red blood cells are present in so small of an amount that they can only be viewed through a microscope. The typical, healthy person excretes up to 85, 000 red blood cells each day. Doctors, viewing a urine sample, look for a greater ratio than this in a urine specimen before diagnosing microscopic hematuria. Gross hematuria means that blood is visible to the human eye. Sometimes this can be seen as a pink, red or a cola color in the urine. At other times, blood clots will appear as speckles in the urine.
Causes of Hematuria
There are three groupings of causes for hematuria or the appearance of hematuria—internal causes, dietary causes, and medicinal causes.
Some internal causes include:
- Kidney stones.
- Urinary tract infections.
- Blockage of the urinary tract.
- Blood clotting disorder.
- Injury to the urinary tract (wreck, athletics, fall, etc.).
- Benign (BPH), or enlargement of the prostate
- Chronic diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and sickle cell anemia.
- Viral infections
- Inflammation of the kidney, usually of unknown cause
- AND Prostate, kidney, or bladder cancer
Sometimes the false appearance of hematuria is as innocuous as eating dark-colored foods. Some foods that can masquerade as blood in the urine include:
- Rhubarb
- Blueberries
- Blackberries
- Paprika
- Beets
- Fava beans
- Artificial food colorings
In addition, certain medications may lead to hematuria, including but not limited to:
- Rifampin
- Nitrofurantoin
- Sulfonamides
- Metronidazole
- Phenytoin
- Prochlorperazine
- Phenolphthalein
- Quinine
- Chloroquine
- Phenazopyridine
- Levodopa