For example, it controls digestion, respiration, the contractions of the heart and of smooth muscles in blood vessels, and the release, by the endocrine system, of hormones which regulate metabolism and growth. Hormones themselves can influence behaviour by their effects on specific parts of the brain.
Hematuria is also common in older men due to the use of certain medications or prostate enlargement. Blood in urine may occur due to infection, inflammation, or injury to the urinary system. Small amounts of blood are typically associated with kidney damage, while lower urinary tract conditions lead to gross hematuria. Kidney and ureter stones commonly cause hematuria in individuals younger than 40 years of age.
Other causes could be a âkidney stone or urinary tract infection. In women, the vagina may be the source of blood believed to come from the urinary tract. Women can also have a kidney, bladder, or ureteral stone, which can cause blood in the urine. In either gender, bloody urine that originates in the lower urinary tract (the bladder in particular) and does not have signs of infection is often a symptom of bladder cancer. Blood in the urine that originates in the kidney, also without infection, is a common sign of kidney cancer.