What causes traces of blood in urine?
In medicine, hematuria (or “haematuria”) is the presence of blood in the urine. It is a sign of a large number of diseases of the kidneys and the urinary tract, ranging from trivial to lethal. Common causes of macroscopic hematuria (i.e. blood visible in the urine) include: Benign familial hematuria Urinary Schistosomiasis (caused by Schistosoma haematobium) – a major cause for hematuria in many African and Middle-Eastern countries; IgA nephropathy (“Berger’s disease”) – occurs during viral infections in predisposed patients; Kidney stones (or bladder stones, now a rare disease); Bladder cancer; Renal cell carcinoma – occasionally presents with bleeding; Paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria – a rare disease where hemoglobin of hemolysed cells is passed into the urine.
