What Causes Red Blood in Stools?

What Causes Red Blood In Stools?

Red blood in stools can have various causes, ranging in severity from 'worrying' to 'generally fatal'. Finding the true cause means ruling out or confirming each possibility – in other words, diagnosis.

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Diagnosis is usually a complex process due to the sheer number of possible causes and related symptoms. In order to diagnose red blood in stools, we could:

Research the topic
Find a doctor with the time
Use a diagnostic computer system.

The process is the same, whichever method is used.

Step 1: List all Possible Causes

We begin by identifying the disease conditions which have "red blood in stools" as a symptom. Here are eight possibilities (more below):

Iron Deficiency Anemia
Hemorrhoids
Gastrointestinal Bleeding
Crohn's Disease
Endometriosis
Ulcerative Colitis
Colon Cancer
Possible Urgent Medical Need

Step 2: Build a Symptom Checklist

We then identify all possible symptoms and risk factors of each possible cause, and check the ones that apply:

appendix removed after age 20

Crohn's disease in remission

diarrhea for 1-3 months

elevated lymphocyte count

past and future vaccination

orange stool color

microcytic red cells

chronic abdominal pain

discontinued low-carb diet

attempting suicide

meal-induced pain for 1-4 weeks

occasional painful urge to defecate

... and more than 80 others

Step 3: Rule Out or Confirm each Possible Cause

A differential diagnosis of your symptoms and risk factors finds the likely cause of red blood in stools:

Cause	Probability	Status
Endometriosis	90%	Confirm
Crohn's Disease	20%	Unlikely
Gastrointestinal Bleeding	12%	Unlikely
Colon Cancer	1%	Ruled out
Iron Deficiency Anemia	0%	Ruled out
Hemorrhoids	0%	Ruled out
Possible Urgent Medical Need	0%	Ruled out
Ulcerative Colitis	0%	Ruled out

* This is a simple example to illustrate the process

Arriving at a Correct Diagnosis

The Analyst™ is our online diagnosis tool that learns all about you through a straightforward process of multi-level questioning, providing diagnosis at the end.

If you indicate irregular stools, The Analyst™ will ask further questions including this one:

Do you see red blood in or on your stools?

Possible responses:

→ Never / don't know
→ Occasionally / small amount on tissue only
→ Occasionally / small amount on tissue and stool
→ Very often recently
→ A significant amount for some time now

Based on your response to this question, which may indicate red blood in stools, frequent red blood in stools or significant red blood in stools, The Analyst™ will consider possibilities such as:

A Potentially Urgent Medical Need

Significant bleeding from anywhere in the body requires immediate medical attention. Small amounts of red blood, especially on the toilet tissue, are most likely from hemorrhoids.

Colon Cancer

In general, you should see a specialist if you are over 40 and have the following symptoms: