Exercise
can cause hematuria (red blood cells in the urine). This phenomenon can
occur under the following conditions:
§ Contact sports:
like boxing should you sustain an injury to the kidneys/bladder
§ Noncontact sports:
Long-distance running, spinning, swimming
§ March hemoglobinuria: here
the urine is rather red; the underlying process is mechanical trauma to red
cells as you move your feet
§ Exertional rhabdomyolysis (meaning breakdown of muscle fibers): as a result, the muscle
fiber protein, known as myoglobin, goes into the urine which turns dark as a
result.
I will elaborate a little on the
rhabdomyolysis: during exercise, skeletal muscle is broken down in
microscopic amounts; this is manifested in muscle soreness or fatigue, but this
amount is usually easily recuperated and muscles adapt by growing in size. On
the level of the molecules, your
muscles increase their consumption of oxygen. Myoglobin carries the oxygen
molecules to maintain activity. When muscle gets damaged because of being
subject to repetitive, strenuous exercise without proper training and
preparation, myoglobin is released
into the blood and then removed in the urine. In some cases, over-exerting your muscles
while weight-lifting can injure muscles. This results in elevated blood potassium and phosphate
concentration.
This is the most obvious explanation to your symptoms.
However, exploring other possibilities is crucial. These include:
-
A urinary tract
infection: especially if you have urinary symptoms like burning upon urination,
or pain, or straining etc.
-
Benign prostate
hypertrophy: benign enlargement of the protaste gland, causing compression of
the urinary bladder and symptoms such as pain, heaviness, and difficulty
initiating urinary stream
-
Kidney
sludge/stones: these usually produce red urine as the injure the pathway on
their way out, in addition to intermittent colics
-
Medications: non
steroidal anti inflammatory drugs may injure the kidney if used chronically;
statins (to lower LDL) can cause rhambdomyolysis – this is associated with significant
muscle and joint aches.
