The kidneys remove waste products, minerals, fluids, and other substances
from the blood in the urine. Urinalysis is done to have a physical and/or
chemical examination of the urine. It consists of a battery of chemical and
microscopic tests, among which the occult blood test is an important item.
People with PKD often find that they have positive occult blood test. What does
this mean?
In case of PKD, the occult blood test often reacts positively in the presence
red blood cells. These cells usually is too large to pass through the glomerular
fiter. If the glomerular basement membrane is damaged, the permeability of the
filtering membrane will increase, so big molecules like red blood cells can
freely pass through the glomerular filter. The presence of red blood cells
results in a positive occult blood test.
After centrifugation, when there are more than 2 red blood cells under each
magnification, hematuria (blood in urine) can be defined. Generally, 10 red
blood cells are calculated as +, +1, or 1+; ++, +2, or 2+ for 20 cells. The more
+ you have for occult blood, the more red blood cells are presenting in your
urine.
What causes urine occult blood test positive in PKD?
From the above analysis, we can know that the major cause of existence of red
blood cells in urine is due to damaged glomerular basement membrane caused by
the suppression of enlarged renal cysts. With bigger and bigger cysts, patients
suffer from more and more loss of kidney function.
Western medicines can only alleviate the symptoms and do nothing to stop the
progression of PKD. Even if the occult blood reduces or disappears for certain
period of time, the underlying causes are not eliminated, occult blood will
recur after the medicine effects disappear or with other inducements.
In order to reverse the leaking of red blood cells from the kidneys, patients
should follow a standard treatment which can stop the growth of cysts and shrink
them effectively so as to prevent further deterioration of kidney function.
Moreover, it is also necessary to repair the damaged kidneys and restore the
renal functions. By doing this, occult blood can be removed permanently.
