Porphyrins (Urine) Tips

The condition in which blood appears in the urine is known as hematuria and causes a great distress to the sufferer. There are several causes why blood may appear in the urine. Whatever the cause may be, hematuria is mostly indicative of a serious medical condition.

Here are 5 reasons that cause blood to appear in the urine. 

1. Infection: Infections like urethritis, pyelonephritis, cystitis or infection in any other body organ along the urinary tract is one of the most common causes of hematuria. Such infection may present with a variety of symptoms including blood in the urine. 
2. Kidney stones and bladder stones: Another reason that can cause blood to appear in the urine is the presence of stones in the kidney or bladder. These stones are crystallized minerals that are formed in the kidney or the bladder but fail to pass through the urinary tract. They cause blockage and pain and result in hematuria. 
3. An enlarged prostate: An enlarged prostate is a common cause of appearance of blood in the urine in men who are in their middle ages or older. Enlargement of the prostate gland causes the urethra to be compressed. This prevents the urinary bladder from getting fully emptied while urination. 
4. Polycystic Kidney Disease: PKD is a kidney disorder in which cysts filled with fluid form in the kidneys and impair the kidneys, causing them to fail entirely at times. It is an inherited disease and can cause blood to appear in the urine. 
5. Cancer: A cancerous kidney, bladder or prostate gland can also cause blood to appear in the urine. It is another major cause of hematuria but usually occurs in older patients. Most of the causes of hematuria can be easily treated. A thorough evaluation and proper treatment is required. Please don’t ignore blood in urine and consult an urologist as soon as possible for optimal care.

If you are experiencing pain in urination along with a burning sensation, a health condition known as dysuria is indicated. This condition is usually common in women and men alike. However, older men are more prone to face this problem. Pain during urination may occur because of various reasons. The most common causes are as follows:
Infections

1. Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are a common cause of painful urination. Infections may occur in any part of your urinary tract, such as in the kidneys, bladder, and the ureters. These infections occur due to bacteria, which gets into the urinary tract via the urethra. There are several factors, which increase your chances of being affected by UTI. They include diabetes, an enlarged prostate, old age, pregnancy, and kidney stones. UTI is signified by other symptoms such as fever, bloody urines, flank pain, stronger smelling urine, and an increased urge for urination.
2. At times, painful urination may also be associated with vaginal infections in women, like yeast infection. Vaginal discharge and foul odor are indicated in the case of vaginal infections.
3. Painful urination is also caused because of certain sexually transmitted infections (STIs) such as gonorrhea, genital herpes and Chlamydia.

Inflammation and irritation
There are several problems, which can cause inflammation of your urinary tract and genital region. This further results in painful urination. Inflammation and irritations also occur because of other factors such as urinary tract stones, vaginal changes associated with menopause, certain physical activities and the side effects of several medicines, treatment procedures and health supplements.

Consulting a doctor for painful urination
Your doctor will suggest you to undertake certain laboratory tests for the proper diagnosis of the cause of your painful urination. After this, a suitable treatment method is sought and undertaken. Before this, an overall physical examination is also carried out. Your doctor is likely to ask you some important questions regarding your painful irritation, how the condition worsens, and is felt during the onset of urination. It is also likely for your doctor to know about any other symptoms, which you might be experiencing such as fever, flank pain and vaginal discharge. You must tell your doctor about any changes observed in your urine flow, such as difficulty in initiating flow, an increased urge to urinate, and dribbling.

Apart from these, your doctor may also ask whether you experienced any character in urine after painful urination. These may include colour, amount, cloudiness, presence of pus in the urine and so on. In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

If there is blood in your urine, it is a sign of renal illness. While this could be happening because of various reasons, it is advisable to see your doctor soon.

Following are the causes of blood in your urine:

1. An enlarged prostate - An enlarged prostate is a common cause of the appearance of blood in the urine in men who are in their middle ages or older. Enlargement of the prostate gland causes the urethra to be compressed. This prevents the urethra from getting fully emptied while urination.
2. Cancer - A cancerous kidney, bladder or prostate gland can also cause blood to appear in the urine. It is another major cause of hematuria but usually occurs in older patients.
3. Infection - Infections like urethritis, pyelonephritis, cystitis or infection in any other body organ along the urinary tract is one of the most common causes of hematuria. Such bacterial infection in the urethra can also infect the kidneys and the urinary bladder. It results in the urge to urinate frequently and also causes blood to appear in the urine.
4. Kidney stones and bladder stones - Another reason that can cause blood to appear in the urine is the presence of stones in the kidney or bladder. These stones are crystallized minerals that are formed in the kidney or the bladder but fail to pass through the urinary tract. They cause blockage and pain and result in hematuria.
5. Polycystic kidney disease - PKD is a kidney disorder in which cysts filled with fluid form in the kidneys and impair the kidneys, causing them to fail entirely at times. It is an inherited disease and causes blood to appear in the urine.In children who are between 6-10 years of age, kidney disorder after streptococcal glomerulonephritis can be a possible cause of hematuria.

The condition in which blood appears in the urine is known as hematuria. The loss of blood in this condition could be gross or microscopic depending on the cause of the condition. There are several causes why blood may appear in the urine. Whatever the cause may be, hematuria is mostly indicative of a serious medical condition.

Here are 5 reasons that cause blood to appear in the urine.

1.Infection

Infections like urethritis, pyelonephritis, cystitis or infection in any other body organ along the urinary tract is one of the most common causes of hematuria. Such bacterial infection in the urethra can also infect the kidneys and the urinary bladder. It results in the urge to urinate frequently and also causes blood to appear in the urine.

2. Kidney stones and bladder stones

Another reason that can cause blood to appear in the urine is the presence of stones in the kidney or bladder. These stones are crystallized minerals that are formed in the kidney or the bladder but fail to pass through the urinary tract. They cause blockage and pain and result in hematuria.

3. An enlarged prostate

An enlarged prostate is a common cause of appearance of blood in the urine in men who are in their middle ages or older. Enlargement of the prostate gland causes the urethra to be compressed. This prevents the urethra from getting fully emptied while urination.

4. Polycystic Kidney Disease

PKD is a kidney disorder in which cysts filled with fluid form in the kidneys and impair the kidneys, causing them to fail entirely at times. It is an inherited disease and causes blood to appear in the urine.

In children who are between 6-10 years of age, kidney disorder after streptococcal glomerulonephritis can be a possible cause of hematuria.

5. Cancer

A cancerous kidney, bladder or prostate gland can also cause blood to appear in the urine. It is another major cause of hematuria but usually occurs in older patients. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a Urologist.

Blood in urine, medically known as Hematuria is not usually a cause of concern, but it can translate into an adverse condition if left unevaluated. The kidneys and other structures in the urinary tracts such as urethra (tube connecting the bladder to the outer part of the body); bladder (that stores the urine) and ureters (tube joining the bladder to the kidney) are the sources of blood flow to the urine. Hematuria can be accompanied by symptoms such as discharge of tea-colored, brownish-red or pink colored urine due to the presence of red blood cells, traces of which can only be detected under the microscope.

Underlying causes behind this disorder might be:

1. Urinary tract infections is where the bacteria enter the body through the urethra and begin to proliferate in the bladder.
2. Kidney infections (pyelonephritis) is when bacteria infiltrate into the kidneys from the bloodstream or travel up from the uterus to the kidneys.
3. A kidney or a bladder stone is marked by the minerals in the concentrated urine precipitating out and molding into crystals that deposit on the bladder or kidney walls.
4. Enlarged prostate is a condition in which the prostate gland, that is situated just below the bladder surrounding the upper part of the urethra, starts growing as males head towards their middle age.
5. Kidney disease such as glomerulonephritis causes swelling of the kidneys, thus disrupting the filtering system.
6. Bladder, kidney and prostate cancer are also possible causes.
7. Hereditary disorders such as sickle cell anemia (a hereditary disease of the red blood cells in the hemoglobin) can also pose as a cause behind this disorder.
8. Kidney injury as a result of heavy blows, accidents or injuries sustained while playing a spot can also contribute to this condition.
9. Medications such as penicillin or the anti-cancer drug ‘cyclophosphamide’
10. Strenuous physical exercises like intense workout or running may also result in Hematuria.

Treatment
There is no fixed cure for Hematuria; instead the doctor would work on treating the repressed conditions behind the symptoms, such as prescribing antibiotics to heal the urinary tract infection or a medicine to shrink and normalize the enlarged prostate or administer a shock wave therapy to destroy the kidney or bladder stones. 

In case you have a concern or query you can always consult an expert & get answers to your questions!

What is a Urinalysis?

A urinalysis is a laboratory test of urine commonly referred to by medical professionals as a “UA.” The urine is evaluated for the presence of certain chemicals. A microscopic exam of the urine is also done to look for abnormalities.

A urinalysis is indicated for evaluating pets with urinary abnormalities such as increased urine production, increased urinary frequency, straining to urinate, bloody urine or abnormal color to the urine. This test can also be helpful in cases of unexplained fever, loss of appetite or weight loss. A urinalysis is often done when indicated by the results of an X-ray, results of blood tests indicating a problem with the urinary system or as a follow up to physical examination when abnormalities are detected.

Any evaluation for health or illness should include a urinalysis. Urinalysis results can give an idea of hydration and kidney function; it can also indicate inflammation or infections in the urinary tract.

There is no real contraindication to performing this test. Even normal results help determine health or exclude certain diseases.

Why Is It Done?

Perhaps you might have noticed that even when you go for your routine health checkup, the physician would suggest you to undergo a urine examination. Similarly, when you approach the doctor for a certain specific ailment, then also the physician may suggest you to undergo a urine test. This test is necessary because urine provides considerable data to the physician to ascertain the cause of your ailment. Urine examination is very important as it indicates the state of your general health. A urinalysis is done for several reasons:

1. To check your overall health: Your doctor may recommend a urinalysis as part of a routine medical exam, pregnancy checkup, pre-surgery preparation, or on hospital admission to screen for a variety of disorders, such as diabetes, kidney disease and liver disease.
2. To diagnose a medical condition: Your doctor may suggest a urinalysis if you're experiencing abdominal pain, back pain, frequent or painful urination, blood in your urine, or other urinary problems. A urinalysis may help diagnose the cause of these symptoms.
3. To monitor a medical condition: If you've been diagnosed with a medical condition, such as kidney disease or a urinary tract disease, your doctor may recommend a urinalysis on a regular basis to monitor your condition and treatment.

Other uses of urine examination:

Urine examination or analysis is also called as “urinalysis”. The urine examination reveals early signs of various diseases including ailments like diabetes and kidney diseases. Further, if you are suffering from any infection, the urine analysis will be helpful in determining the type of infection. It also helps in determining pregnancy.

Process of filtration:

As you know, it is the kidneys, which throw out urine. Further, urine contains waste materials removed from the blood by a process of filtration performed by the kidney. In fact, even the health of the kidney can be assessed by a urine examination.

Some of the other salient features of urine analysis are briefly described here:

1. In the case of patients suffering from chronic kidney ailment, periodical urine examination will help the physician ascertain the health of the kidney. For example, presence of protein beyond a certain level would be a pointer to evaluate the health of your kidney. Interestingly, in some cases, a few people may release excess protein only occasionally. Therefore, during the course of urine examination, they might not have released excess protein. It is for this reason that the doctor may suggest repeated urine analysis to evaluate the health of the kidney.
2. The process of urine analysis is normally grouped into three, namely visual colour examination of the urine, dip stick examination and microscopic examination. The type of examination normally depends on the ailment suspected. Further, depending on the results of urine analysis, the physician may suggest you to undergo various other urine tests.
3. Sometimes the accuracy of the results of urine analysis can be affected because of certain medicines that you may be taking or dehydration and for various other reasons. In such cases, the physician may suggest you to repeat the urine examination after a few days.

Summary:

In some cases, the pathologist may provide certain instructions before collecting your urine for a thorough examination. For example, you may be asked to go empty stomach or a few hours after the meals and so on. Follow these instructions scrupulously; after all, instructions are for the sake of your health and its benefits. If you wish to discuss about any specific problem, you can consult a nephrologist.

An overactive bladder is a condition that is characterized by a problem in the bladder storage function; a problem that makes not that eggs one on to urinate frequently. 

Symptoms
If you have an overactive bladder, you may exhibit symptoms of frequent urination, involuntary leakage of urine and frequent urge to urinate. These symptoms might disrupt your daily life; so it is important to seek advice from a medical practitioner.

Causes
To better understand what causes an overactive bladder, you need to know how the urination process works. Urine is produced by the kidneys, which flows to the bladder. During urination, the urine is excreted from an opening in the bladder and flows out via the urethra. As the kidneys secrete urine, the bladder starts to fill up. During this stage, nerve signals are sent to the brain; signals that trigger your body to urinate. The bladder muscles tighten that pushes the urine out of the body.

An overactive bladder results from the involuntarily contraction of the bladder, which might happen even if the content of urine in the bladder is low. These contractions create the urge to urinate. The various causes of an overactive bladder are:

1. Excessive fluid intake, if your fluid intake is high, then you may have the tendency to urinate frequently.
2. Presence of tumors or stones in the bladder can make the bladder overactive as well.
3. Excessive alcohol or caffeine consumption has the same effect as an excessive intake of fluids has.
4. Urinary tract infections may interfere with the entire process of urination, thus causing your bladder to swell up and become overactive.
5. Other diseases and conditions such as constipation and an enlarged prostate can hamper bladder functioning.

Treatment
There are multiple approaches to treat an overactive bladder; your doctor may use one or a combination of multiple methods.

1. Medications: Medications such as Trospium and Tolterodine help in relaxing the bladder. These medications help treat symptoms of frequent urination.
2. Bladder injections: Botox is a protein that is injected into the bladder that causes partial paralysis of the bladder muscles. This helps in treating the constant urge to urinate. However, its effects are temporary as they last for 6-9 months.
3. Lifestyle modifications: Certain lifestyle modifications such as incorporating exercises to strengthen the pelvic muscles, maintaining optimal weight levels and bladder training to control its functioning can help with managing an overactive bladder.
4. Surgery: If the other treatments do not produce the desired results, then surgery is usually recommended. The aim of the surgery is to enhance the storage capacity of the bladder and reduce bladder pressure.

If you notice blood while urinating, you must visit a urologist to get a clear picture of the health issue. Blood in urine is known as hematuria in medical terms. Such a condition can occur in both men and women. It is a common condition and does not require the patient to panic. Rather immediate tests should be conducted to find out the cause of the blood and treated accordingly. Such conditions are very much treatable with a little care and vigilance following of the doctor’s advice. Here are some of the common causes of hematuria in individuals: 

1. Urine Infections: Urine infections are the common cause of blood in your urine. Most commonly these affect urinary bladder and rarely kidneys also. Prompt identification and treatment can easily revert this problem. 
2. Urinary Stones: Another major cause of hematuria, usually accompanied by pain in the abdomen. 
3. Enlarged Prostate: With an enlarged prostate, there can be blood flow with the urine. Rarely this may be a sign of cancer in the prostate. 
4. Exercise: This might come as a surprise for many of the fitness freaks. While exercises are needed for the body and rightly so; but exercises should be done in a certain limit. Heavy exercises, limitless and vigorous exercises can sometimes cause other health problems in the body. One such problem is the passing of blood in the urine. 
5. Medications: Quite interesting is the fact that long-term consumption of certain medicines might cause hematuria in individuals. Certain medicines like penicillin and aspirin are absorbed by the body to a certain extent. But overdose or the regular dosage might lead to further problems in the human body. 
6. Kidney Injury: A kidney injury is a form of internal injury which can be felt and manifested through signs and symptoms. Such injuries occur mostly to those who are in the field of sports. At times, a heavy punch, a hard training session, or an exhaustive fall might lead to kidney injuries. This, in turn, would cause hematuria. 
7. Tumors of Urinary Tract: Bleeding can occur from tumors arising from kidney, ureter, urinary bladder as well as urethra. These require timely detection and management. Early treatment leads to an excellent long-term outcome. 

Thus, these are some of the common reasons for the development of blood in urine. However, it is a condition which can be best analyzed by the medical practitioner. Therefore, on the occasion of blood, you must get it tested and treated immediately.

Polycystic kidney disease is a disorder that is inherited; it is characterized by development of cysts in the kidneys. These cysts are round sacs that contain a water like fluid. Initially, the size of the cysts are small, they tend to increase in size after the fluid accumulation. This disorder can also cause cysts to develop in the liver and other parts of the body.

Symptoms and Complications
The most common symptoms of this disorder are back pain, headache, high blood pressure and kidney failure. It can also lead to formation of stones in the kidney, presence of blood in the urine and an urge to urinate frequently. It also make your kidney prone to various bacterial infections.

Causes
The disease is caused because of the presence of defective genes in the body, implying that this disorder is primarily hereditary. In some cases, the disease is caused by a genetic mutation. Based on the causes, it is classified into two types:

1. Autosomal recessive polycystic kidney disease: This disorder causes the symptoms to appear immediately after birth, although the symptoms are delayed until adolescence. This disorder only occurs when both the parents carry the defective gene which is passed to the offspring.
2. Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease: This disorder usually tends to occur only after the age of 30. Unlike the previous type, here only one parent needs to carry the defective gene that is passed on to the offspring.

Treatment
The treatment of polycystic kidney disease generally involves dealing with the following signs:

1. Pain: Chronic pain, usually in the sides of the body or the back, is a common symptom of this disorder. You can opt for pain reliving medication such as ibuprofen. If the cysts are large, then surgery is required to ease the pain.
2. High blood pressure: High blood pressure is best controlled by a following a healthy diet and lifestyle. High blood pressure can damage the kidneys severely. Medications may also be required to control blood pressure, if it rises abnormally.

Blood in urine, medically known as Hematuria is not usually a cause of concern, but it can translate into an adverse condition if left unevaluated. The kidneys and other structures in the urinary tracts such as urethra (tube connecting the bladder to the outer part of the body); bladder (that stores the urine) and ureters (tube joining the bladder to the kidney) are the sources of blood flow to the urine. Hematuria can be accompanied by symptoms such as discharge of tea-colored, brownish-red or pink colored urine due to the presence of red blood cells, traces of which can only be detected under the microscope.

Underlying causes behind this disorder might be

1. Urinary tract infection is where the bacteria enter the body through the urethra and begin to proliferate in the bladder.
2. Kidney infections (pyelonephritis) is when bacteria infiltrate into the kidneys from the bloodstream or travel up from the uterus to the kidneys.
3. A kidney or a bladder stone is marked by the minerals in the concentrated urine precipitating out and molding into crystals that deposit on the bladder or kidney walls.
4. Enlarged prostate is a condition in which the prostate gland, that is situated just below the bladder surrounding the upper part of the urethra, starts growing as males head towards their middle age.
5. Kidney disease such as glomerulonephritis causes swelling of the kidneys, thus disrupting the filtering system.
6. Bladder, kidney and prostate cancer are also possible causes.
7. Hereditary disorders such as sickle cell anemia (a hereditary disease of the red blood cells in the hemoglobin) can also pose as a cause behind this disorder.
8. Kidney injury as a result of heavy blows, accidents or injuries sustained while playing a spot can also contribute to this condition.
9. Medications such as penicillin or the anti-cancer drug ‘cyclophosphamide’
10. Strenuous physical exercises like intense workout or running may also result in Hematuria.

Treatments

There is no fixed cure for Hematuria; instead the doctor would work on treating the repressed conditions behind the symptoms, such as prescribing antibiotics to heal the urinary tract infection or a medicine to shrink and normalize the enlarged prostate or administer a shock wave therapy to destroy the kidney or bladder stones.