Hematuria

Hematuria and Kidney Disease

Hematuria or blood urine is described as kidneys or other parts of urinary tract allow blood cells to leak into urine. It can be either gross or microscopic that may be a sign of kidney disease. A proper treatment can not only alleviate hematuria but also slow the progress of kidney disease.

Finding out the causes should be the first step of the whole treatment

A number of conditions can lead to blood urine:

1. Kidney stone: It can be a specific disease or a complication of other kidney disorders. When kidney stone moves through urinary tract, it is easy to scarify the urothelium, resulting in hematuria.

2. Kidney or urinary tract infections: These infections occur when bacteria enter the body through the urethra or enter the kidneys from bloodstream. Besides hematuria, fever, chills, flank pain, nausea and vomiting, etc, may also be the symptoms of kidney or urinary tract infections.

3. Glomerulonephritis: Characterized by inflammation of glomeruli, glomerulonephritis makes glomerular filtration barrier damaged. Then, blood cells can go through the filtration barrier to from blood urine.

4. Congenital disorders: Hematuria also appear in some congenital disorders like Polycystic Kidney Disease (PKD) and kidney cysts.

An accurate diagnosis can be the guarantee of whole treatment

Since hematuria can result from so many conditions, an accurate diagnosis can tell the doctors the location and extent of kidney damage. Therefore, the following tests may be needed.

● Urine culture: In this test, a sample of urine is monitored to see whether bacteria grows.

● CT scan of the kidneys, ureters and bladder

● Ultrasound: It is used to decide whether a kidney mass is benign, kidney cyst, tumor or kidney stone.

● Cystoscopy: This test is usually done with local anesthesia and sedation

● Blood tests: These can check for signs of urinary tract infection, anemia, kidney failure and kidney stones.

How to treat hematuria due to kidney disease?

The treatment of hematuria should depend on its cause. For example, if the hematuria is due to kidney or urinary tract infections, antibiotics are usually used. Besides, some fruit juice like cranberry juice has a great effect on preventing and treating urinary tract infections. Different causes need different managements. If you are also suffering from hematuria, tell the doctor your illness condition immediately so he can help you make a treatment plan in detail.