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Q: Can frequently drinking alcoholic beverages cause blood in urine?
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The Trusted Source
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Bradley Mark Denker, M.D., is an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is also the director of nephrology at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates and an associate physician of the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital.

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February 20, 2008
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A:

No, something else is causing blood in your urine. Or perhaps the color of your urine is not from blood.

Alcohol is metabolized by the liver and is not associated with blood in the urine. There are numerous health implications of drinking alcohol frequently, but most of them relate to the direct effects of alcohol on the stomach and pancreas. The liver can also be damaged if alcohol is consumed in excess.

Alcohol-induced liver disease can cause urine to turn a reddish-brown color, which can look like strong tea or cola. This can look somewhat similar to bloody urine.

Blood in the urine is most frequently seen with problems of the bladder, ureters (tubes connecting bladder to kidneys) and, rarely, from the kidneys themselves. Alcohol does not cause direct damage to these organs.

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