There is occult blood in the urine test, what's going on?

Many people find occult blood during urine tests. In fact, this is a very common disease. For example, this phenomenon is very likely to occur if female friends check right after their menstrual period. If male friends suffer from diseases such as urinary tract infection, occult blood symptoms will also appear. Experts say that if there is occult blood, you should go to the hospital for examination in time to determine the final cause of the disease, and then treat it accordingly.

1. Introduction to Urine Occult Blood

The so-called occult blood is "potential bleeding", which means that the presence of red blood cells cannot be observed with the naked eye or under a microscope, but there is a reaction when tested with a test strip. Why is this so? Because when red blood cells are destroyed, the hemoglobin contained in them will be released, so the urine test stick can detect the reaction of hemoglobin. But why do red blood cells burst before leaving the body? It may be that the lifespan of the red blood cells has come to an end and they dissolve on their own like foam. It may also be that after drinking a lot of water, the urine becomes thinner and the tension decreases, causing the red blood cells to burst. In any case, the presence of occult blood, like hematuria, is a warning sign and should not be taken lightly.

2. Causes of occult blood in urine

Generally speaking, it can be attributed to the following three reasons: inflammation, stones, and tumors. Regarding inflammation, such as glomerulonephritis, pyelonephritis, cystitis, etc., in addition to hematuria, occult blood may also occur in urine tests. The stones themselves, whether they are kidney, ureter or bladder stones, may cause occult blood. Other situations such as constipation during menstruation may also cause occult blood.

What is really worrying is the occult blood caused by tumors, such as benign or malignant tumors of the kidney, bladder, and ureter. Of course, older men have prostate enlargement and excessive residual urine, which makes the bladder prone to inflammation. The blood vessels on the surface of the prostate are congested, and they have difficulty urinating. After straining to urinate, they may have hematuria or occult blood. In fact, prostate enlargement is also a type of tumor. It is a tumor of the prostate gland, which becomes enlarged due to proliferation. Therefore, tumors of the urinary tract should not be taken lightly.

Basically, there are different considerations for occult blood at different ages and genders. For example, when occult blood is found in young women during urine tests, in addition to clinical symptoms, they should ask whether it is the normal menstrual period. Cystitis is a common cause. However, if it is a 30-40 year old male, if there are no obvious symptoms of inflammation, sometimes an abdominal X-ray should be taken to see if there is a possibility of stones. In addition to hematuria or occult blood in elderly men, prostatic hypertrophy is listed as the main consideration, and further intravenous pyelography or ultrasound examination should be performed to see if there is a tumor in the urinary system.

In addition, urine cytology is also a method to detect malignant tumors. If X-rays, ultrasounds and urine cytology are all normal and occult blood is still present, it is best to undergo a cystourethroscopy. Because X-rays and ultrasounds are limited and not all tumors can be visualized, you can only use the naked eye to directly observe smaller lesions (cystourethroscopy). If these tests show no abnormal findings, we call this occult blood or hematuria "benign unexplained hematuria," which may be related to the body's immune mechanism and only requires regular follow-up in the future.