Blood in Stool - Cause For Concern

Sometimes, when you are passing stool, you can see streaks of blood in the stool or the tissue paper. Spotting blood like this can be quite an alarming sight for anyone. The presence of blood in stool could be for various reasons, and they generally point towards rectal bleeding or gastrointestinal bleeding. It's time to head towards your physician's office if you see blood like this. Ignorance can complicate the matter even further. Ask yourself - can blood in stool cause other problems? Sure they can. Excessive blood loss can lead to weakness, fatigue, and even anemia.

What is the cause of blood in stool? There is more than one factor that can cause rectal bleeding. Let's look at the more important ones among them one by one.

Gastroenteritis

Gastroenteritis is one of the main reasons that can cause the appearance of blood with stool. A condition which causes the intestines or the stomach to become inflamed, Gastroenteritis can also cause nausea, abdominal pain, weakness, and diarrhea that could possibly contain blood.

Internal Bleeding

Internal Bleeding refers to the bleeding of blood vessels inside the body. Apart from being a blood in stool cause, it may also lead to weakness, dizziness, and stomach pain. The person might also become unconscious due to internal bleeding. The main causes for internal bleeding are bleeding ulcers, tears to the stomach or intestines and trauma.

Hemorrhoids

Hemorrhoid can also lead to bloody stools. Hemorrhoids are a medical condition in which the patient suffers from swelling in the blood vessels around the anus and hence experiences severe pain and discomfort while sitting or passing stool. Hemorrhoids are of two kinds - internal and external hemorrhoids. Hemorrhoids can also cause a number of other symptoms, such as anal swelling and itching, pain and discomfort.

Anal Fissures

Anal fissure refer to a torn anal which causes bright red blood in stool. Patients also complain to have blood on the toilet tissue and underwear. Anal fissure leads to severe pain and discomfort in any activity that requires anal movement or puts pressure on the anus, such as passing stools, bending over or lifting something heavy.

Ulcerative Colitis

Patients suffering from Ulcerative colitis have ulcers and inflammation in their rectum and colon. This is a chronic disease of the lower digestive tract which can cause rectal bleeding or blood, mucus or pus while passing your stool. Such patients may also experience water and blood in diarrhea, high fever, stomach pain, nausea, and dehydration. Symptoms like passing foul smelling stools, loss of appetite, skin lesions, and joint pain can also be associated with Ulcerative colitis.