Blood in Your Stools

Where the Blood Comes from Tells About How it Looks

We feel it a responsibility to talk about our kid’s stool color, consistency and frequency with our fellow parents but shy away from discussing about our stool color and its related problems.

Bloody stools often indicate a problem in the digestive tract. The blood might come from anywhere in the digestive tract from the mouth to the anus. After using the toilet, you may notice blood in your stool, toilet paper or few drops in the toilet bowl. Many people try ignoring it as they feel embarrassed talking about it, even to their doctor.

Place of Origin is Important
Where the blood comes from tells about how it looks.

1. Blood from the small or large bowel, rectum or anus looks maroon or bright red in color and can be spotted on the toilet paper, toilet bowl (drops) or stool surface.
2. Blood from the esophagus, stomach or first part of the small intestine (predominantly, higher up in the bowel) appear black, tarry and smells bad.
3. Blood mixed with stool also has its bleeding origin higher up in the bowel.
   
   

Different Stool Colors
The food we eat too sometimes determines our stool color:
Bright red: Heavy or fast bleeding in the upper GI tract.
Black: Consumption of blackberries, lead, iron pills or bismuth medicines.
Red: Consumption of beetroot or tomatoes.

Causes
Different reasons exist behind blood in stools. They include:

• Bowel cancer
• Injury
• Bowel infections
• Anal fissures (small cracks in the anus)
• Hemorrhoids
• Colorectal polyps
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Diverticulitis
• Trauma or foreign body
  
  

Along with blood in the stool, if you feel dizzy, light-headed or keep losing weight it might indicate an emergency and you need to visit the doctor immediately.

Diagnosis
Your physician might arrange for different tests depending on your symptoms, age and medical history:

• Stool culture
• Colonoscopy
• Angiograph
• Capsule endoscopy
• Double balloon enteroscopy (to reach parts of the small intestine that cannot be reached by colonoscopy or EGD)
• Esophagogastroduodenoscopy or EGD
• Rectal examination
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The treatment for the bloody stools depends on the diagnosis. While changing your lifestyle and correcting your diet can stop bloody stools, some other serious problems such as bowel cancer and diverticular disease need immediate intervention. If you would like to change to a healthier lifestyle and follow a nutritious diet get in touch with a registered dietitian nutritionist at www.firsteatright.com