Could blood in your urine be a sign of kidney cancer, urologist explains what you need to know

There are many diseases in the human body which seem very common in the beginning, but if not taken care of on time, they can prove fatal. One such serious symptom is the appearance of blood in urine. Most people easily ignore a light red or pink color in their urine as a minor effect of dehydration, urinary tract infection (UTI) or kidney stones, especially when they are not feeling any pain or discomfort. But according to Dr. Arun Kumar Balakrishnan, Managing Director and leading uro-oncologist of the prestigious Asian Institute of Nephrology and Urology, Chennai, blood in urine without pain can be the first and main warning sign of ‘Kidney Cancer’. Since this cancer spreads silently inside the body without any noise in the initial stages, ignoring even one incident of it can be costly. What is Hematuria in Medical Language: How It’s a Big Red Flag for Your Whole Body In medical science, this condition of blood coming in urine is called ‘Hematuria’. Dr. Balakrishnan explains that the color of hematuria can be completely red, light pink or dark brown. Sometimes this bleeding is so subtle that it is not visible to the naked eye and is detected only during a routine urine test. According to urologists, whether blood appears in urine only once or repeatedly, whether it is accompanied by abdominal pain or not, you should immediately contact a specialist doctor. The biggest challenge of kidney cancer is that it grows very slowly and by the time the patient starts showing serious symptoms like persistent back pain, feeling a large lump in the stomach, sudden weight loss or extreme fatigue, it has reached a dangerously advanced stage. It is not necessary that every bleeding is cancer: Urologist told the correct method of complete examination. Experts say that seeing blood in urine does not mean that you have 100% kidney cancer. Any type of bacterial infection in the urinary tract, kidney stones, enlarged prostate in men or other chronic diseases related to kidneys can also be the main cause of this internal bleeding. However, a thorough medical diagnosis is required to pinpoint the actual problem. Dr. Balakrishnan advises that before reaching any conclusion, one should consult an experienced urologist and undergo modern radiological tests like urine analysis, abdominal ultrasound, CT scan or MRI as needed to ensure treatment of the right disease at the right time. Main risk factors of kidney cancer: People who have crossed the age of 50 and smokers should be very careful. Generally, most of the cases of kidney cancer are seen in people above 50 years of age, but due to today’s changing lifestyle, youth are also falling prey to it. According to Dr. Balakrishnan, tobacco and cigarette consumption is the strongest and biggest preventable risk factor for this disease. Apart from this, suffering from excessive obesity, uncontrolled high blood pressure, chronic kidney disease (CKD) and family history of kidney cancer also increases this risk manifold. This robotic surgeon from Chennai says that by maintaining a balanced body weight, completely avoiding tobacco, regular physical exercise and annual health check-up, the chances of contracting this deadly disease can be reduced to a great extent. Treatment now becomes easier with robotic surgery: Recognize the body’s whisper before it screams. Thanks to modern technologies in the medical world, today the treatment of kidney cancer has become very effective and easy if detected in its early stages. Due to advancements in urological care, patients no longer need to undergo large incisions like in the past. With the help of minimally invasive laparoscopic and robot-assisted surgery, cancerous tumors are removed from the body through very small incisions. Due to this, the patient’s recovery is very fast, the pain after the operation is minimal and the best thing is that the healthy kidney tissues of the patient’s body are completely saved, due to which the quality of life is not affected. Dr. Balakrishnan made a beautiful point by warning that your body often signals small whispers before major disaster; Blood in urine is also a part of it, recognize it and save your life.