What Can Cause Blood in Female Urine?
Blood in a woman's urine has many different causes ranging from infections in the kidney or urinary tract to other kidney problems, as well as cancer, a reaction to certain medicines, and strenuous physical activity. People with urinary blood should contact their doctors immediately, according to Mayo Clinic.
The technical term for blood in urine is hematuria. When infections strike the kidney or urinary tract, bacteria move into the bladder or kidney. If the infection targets the kidney, the symptoms include fever and pain in the flanks. With a urinary tract infection, people feel a strong need to urinate and have burning or pain when they go the bathroom. In some cases, the urine smells particularly strong, notes Mayo Clinic.
A kidney or bladder stone can lead to urinary blood. Stones often go undiagnosed until they cause a blockage, but urinary blood is a possible symptom. Other kidney problems, such as a blow to the kidney or glomerulonephritis, a disease that inflames the filtering system in the kidneys, also cause blood in the urine, states Mayo Clinic.
Cancer in the bladder or kidney sometimes causes blood in the urine, as do penicillin and cyclophosphamide, a drug that fights cancer. Anticoagulants such as heparin and aspirin do not cause blood urine on their own, but they can increase the blood level if a patient already has a condition causing microscopic levels in the urine. Strenuous exercise, in rare cases, causes urinary blood as well, according to Mayo Clinic.
