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Q: My father has developed extreme amounts of blood in his urine. He is stubborn on going to a doctor for a diagnosis. I would like to know some of the potential reasons for this problem so that I can bring it to his attention so he will get to the doctor.
A: The presence of blood in the urine is a condition referred to as hematuria. Hematuria is usually classified as gross (visible to the naked eye), or microscopic. Each of them may be further subclassified depending on the presence or absence of symptoms as symptomatic or painless . In addition, hematuria may be classified as initial, terminal, or total, depending on when it occur during the process of urination..
The presence of hematuria should be carefully evaluated and requires that the patient immediately consults his/her physician. In fact, there are many possible causes of hematuria, some much more serious than others. Therefore, immediate visit to one's physician is necessary to determine the cause so that appropriate treatment may be initiated. Rather than present here all the possible causes, let us merely state that about 20% of the patients with hematuria will be found to have cancer as the source of bleeding, most commonly carcinoma of the bladder, 25% will have infections as the cause, and 20% will have stones as the possible cause.
In summary, you should try to convince your father to see his physician as soon as possible, since hematuria could be caused by some serious diseases.
Updated: 06/13/99
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