Dr. Eneas,

I am a 53-year-old man and sometimes I have a slight red color in my urine. What do you think is causing my problem? Should I go to the doctor?

A slight red color in your urine could be small amounts of blood. This blood could be coming from your prostate gland, your bladder, or your kidneys. The causes are too numerous to list here, but you should definitely have this checked by a doctor. A simple urine examination is the first step.

Dear Dr. Eneas,

What is urethritis and how do you know if you have it?

Urethritis is an inflammation of the urethra which is the outlet tube of the urinary bladder. When the urethra is inflamed you will have burning with urination and frequency of urination. The symptoms are more prevalent in men and can be due to inflammation of the prostate or a sexually transmitted infection.

I would suggest being evaluated by a urologist, as you might require antibiotics to treat this condition.

Dr. Judson F. Eneas is an internal medicine/nephrology physician. If you have a medical question that needs answering, we would love to hear from you. Send us your question via email to askthedoctor@doctorshosp.com, or to Doctors Hospital, P.O. Box N-3018, Nassau, The Bahamas.

NOTE: This olumn is intended to educate the community about important issues regarding their health and is not intended as a substitute for consultation with a primary physician. For more information or for a physician referral, please call 302-4707.