Red blood cells in urine is a possible sign of a urinary tract infection or kidney problem.
If you are seeing red blood cells in the urine sample, it means that there is bleeding somewhere in your urinary tract or kidneys. This can be caused by trauma to the area and may require an immediate visit to the doctor if it is a large quantity of bleeding. It can also be due to kidney damage, which would require further testing and treatment.
If this is not the case and you have no other symptoms associated with hematuria (bloody urine), then it may simply be due to menstruation or food/medication ingestion that causes red blood cells in the urine sample.
If you consumed any of the above substances, it's possible that your urine was colored red because of them.
Also important to note is that hematuria is a common side effect of menstruation for women. In fact, about 25% of women who experience this symptom will also have blood in their urine at other times, especially during ovulation or mid-cycle when hormones are fluctuating.
When you have a positive test result, it is recommended that you repeat the testing to confirm. If there is any suspicion of bleeding in the urine or kidney disease, then repeat testing should be performed.
If positive again, further testing with imaging studies such as kidney ultrasound or CT kidney would be recommended. You may need to see a doctor if you have red blood cells in your urine. You should not be drinking large amounts of water and you should not be taking large doses of vitamin C.
If you have red blood cells in your urine, it's important to undergo further testing. Common tests include imaging studies such as CT kidneys, ultrasound of the kidneys and bladder and IVP (intravenous pyelogram) for imaging of the urinary tract.
A large number of red blood cells found in urine is called polyuria. This means that there is an excess amount of water being produced and excreted by the kidneys, causing excessive urination. In some cases, this may be because you are dehydrated or not drinking enough fluids.
If you have a large number of red blood cells in your urine due to dehydration or another cause, you may need to drink more water and make sure that you maintain adequate hydration levels so as not to become even more dehydrated than before.
Some other possible causes for having a high number of red blood cells present in your urine include:
The number of red blood cells (RBCs) in urine is so high that they can't be counted. To give you a sense of scale, if there were no RBCs in your urine, it would look clear. If there were one RBC for every milliliter of urine sample, you'd see slightly pink coloration. The more RBCs you have, the darker the color will be.
Some people with this condition are able to filter out some or all of their RBCs before passing them through their kidneys and into their bladder; these individuals will not have visible symptoms of polycythemia vera on routine urinalysis but may develop complications from an excessive number of circulating red blood cells over time (such as thrombosis). This can be difficult for medical professionals to diagnose because most laboratories don't include tests for polycythemia vera on standard panels unless specifically requested by a doctor; therefore having your doctor request specific tests (such as hemoglobin) may help ensure that proper diagnosis is made and appropriate treatment provided early on in order to avoid more serious health problems later down the line
If a urine sample contains more than one red blood cell per high power field (HPF), it is considered highly abnormal. The HPF is a microscopic area of the urine sample that the lab technician uses to evaluate the specimen. Each HPF contains 40 cells, which means that if there are 2 or more red blood cells in this area when viewed under a microscope, this is an abnormal result.
A high number of red blood cells in the urine may be caused by cancers, infections or damaged kidneys.
Cancers that can cause high numbers of red blood cells include:
Infections that can cause high levels of RBCs include:
If you get this result, talk to your doctor about it. The doctor will probably ask you some questions about your health and lifestyle and may want to do some tests on you to find out what is causing the abnormal result.
The presence of red blood cells in the urine can be due to a variety of causes. If you suspect that your child may have red blood cells in his/her urine, it's important to speak with your pediatrician or other health care professional and follow their instructions for further testing or treatment.