kidney stones – Hello Doctor

What to do when there’s blood in your pee

November 30th, 2018 by The Hello Doctor Team

Do you need to see the doctor if your pee has blood in it?

Unless you are a woman and are currently menstruating, the answer is Yes! it’s not normal to have blood in your pee.

The colour of your urine says a lot about your health. What’s more concerning is spotting blood in it which could appear red, maroon, pink, or like a dark, smoky colour.

Haematuria

Haematuria is what doctors call it when you have there’s blood in your urine. In rare cases, red urine may be caused by certain foods or medicines. You may or may not see blood clots and your doctor may want to test a sample of your urine to confirm that its red colour is caused by blood.

According to the US National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, there are two types of haematuria.

Gross haematuria: When you can actually see blood in your urine.

Microscopic haematuria: When the blood isn’t visible to the naked eye but can be detected under a microscope

Causes of blood in the urine

Haematuria happens when blood cells enter your kidney or urinary tract. This is commonly caused by a urinary tract infection. Certain kidney diseases, kidney stones and bladder tumours can also cause blood to appear in your urine.

Several problems can cause this leakage, which include:

Urinary tract infections: This happens when bacteria enter your body through the urethra (the tube that drains urine from the bladder) and multiply in your bladder. Symptoms can include a persistent urge to pee, pain and burning with urination, and extremely strong-smelling urine.

Kidney infections: This is when bacteria enter your kidneys from your bloodstream or move from your ureter (a tube that carries urine from the kidney to the urinary bladder) to your kidney. Signs and symptoms include a fever and discomfort in your upper stomach or back and sides.

A bladder or kidney stone: The minerals in concentrated urine sometimes form crystals on the walls of your kidneys or bladder. Over time, the crystals can become small, hard stones. The stones are generally painless, so you probably won’t know you have them unless they cause a blockage or start to move. Kidney stones are extremely painful and often cause bleeding.

Enlarged prostate: In men, the prostate gland is below the bladder and surrounds the top part of the urethra. It usually enlarges as men approach middle age. It then squeezes the urethra, which blocks urine flow. Signs and symptoms of an enlarged prostate include difficulty urinating, an urgent or persistent need to urinate, and either, visible or microscopic blood in the urine. A prostate infection can cause these same signs and symptoms.

Cancer: Visible urinary bleeding may be a sign of advanced kidney, bladder or prostate cancer. Unfortunately, you might not have signs or symptoms in the early stages, when these cancers are more treatable.

Diagnosis:

A physical exam, where you’ll have a discussion with your doctor about your medical history.
Urine tests. Even if your bleeding was discovered through urine testing (urinalysis), you’re likely to have another test to check if your urine still contains red blood cells. A urinalysis can also look for a urinary tract infection or minerals that cause kidney stones.
Imaging tests. Usually, an imaging test is needed to find the cause of haematuria. Your doctor might recommend a CT or MRI scan or an ultrasound exam.
Your doctor threads a narrow tube (fitted with a tiny camera) into your bladder to examine the bladder and urethra for signs of disease.

Treatment

Treatment will differ depending on what the cause of the bleeding is. Treatment for haematuria may involve taking antibiotics to clear up a urinary tract infection, prescription medication to shrink an enlarged prostate or shock wave therapy to break up bladder or kidney stones.

References:

What you need to know about kidney stones

March 8th, 2017 by The Hello Doctor Team

You feel like you’re on your deathbed. Waves of pain are attacking from every angle; in your side, below the ribs, your groin… the pain makes it near impossible to wee!

You could have kidney stones.

Symptoms that make grown men cry

You will know it by its array of symptoms ranging from extreme pain (pretty much everywhere), pink, red or brown urine, nausea, vomitting, and urinating more than usual. And don’t forget the agony that comes from urinating – intense agony.

How they are formed

Kidney stones form when waste materials in the urine do not dissolve completely. Some things that can contribute to their formation are:

Excess salts in your body
Your body’s inability to clear out waste products.
Bladder infections
Dehydration
Accumulation of oxalic and uric acid. (Uric acid is hard to dissolve and can easily lead to the formation of kidney stones.

Interestingly, some people have kidney stones that cause no pain at all and are often only spotted when they’re examined by a doctor for other conditions.

Treatment options

Most of the stones are made of calcium and vary in size from too small to be seen by the naked eye, to about 1.5 cm in diameter. If the stones are not too large, they can be passed during urination, or they can be made smaller or dissolved by making the urine more alkaline. Sometimes large kidney stones need to be surgically removed.

Diet and kidney stone risk

Some studies have found that foods rich in the mineral may reduce your risk of getting the painful condition. Dietary calcium, wholegrains and vegetables all appear to lower the chances that you’ll get kidney stones, while a high sugar intake may do the opposite.

The bad news is that obesity and being overweight are linked to a risk of stones. The more overweight a person is, the more likely he will have kidney stones, says a University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre study. This is the first study to identify a direct link between excess body weight and uric acid kidney stones, which occur in about five percent of kidney stone patients, and in about 30 percent of diabetics with kidney stones.

How to avoid them

Drink lots of water – up to 10 glasses per day. Water will dilute and flush away substances that form stones.
Skimp on the sugar, salt and refined foods and choose fruit, vegetables and wholegrain cereals.
Eat less meat, fish and chicken as these foods increase the level of uric acid in the urine.
Don’t reduce your calcium intake significantly, unless you were eating excessive amounts.
Drinking lemonade could help prevent painful kidney stones, as it may increase the production of urinary citrate, a chemical in the urine that prevents the formation of crystals that may build up into kidney stones.
If you have symptoms of a kidney stone, such as pain, nausea and vomiting, blood in the urine, more frequent urination, fever or chills, see your doctor at once.

Good to know

Your doctor may do blood and urine tests, an ultrasound and possibly a CT scan or special X-ray called an IVP to confirm the diagnosis and decide on the best treatment. Most stones pass out of the body on their own.

Surgical treatment may be necessary if a stone is too large to pass, blocks the flow of urine, or causes infections, kidney damage or constant bleeding.

References:

What are kidney stones?

September 2nd, 2014 by The Hello Doctor Team

Kidney stones: they sound like something that only happens to the elderly, but this condition can affect young people too – let’s see what they are, and how you can avoid them. Continue reading “What are kidney stones?”