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Medical Reasons for Blood in Your Stool

There are many reasons why you may have blood in your stool, including cancer and ulcers. The brighter and redder the blood, the more likely its origin is your lower intestines or your rectum. If your stool is black, the blood may be from an ulcer, originating in your stomach, a decided distance from your rectum.

  1. Red or Maroon or Black

    • According to Dr. Dennis Lee of Medicine.net.com, the color of your stool, and whether the blood is bright red or black, depends on the origin of the bleeding in your GI tract. The closer the site of the bleeding to your rectum, the brighter the red of the blood in your stool. Blood from the sigmoid colon, the anus and rectum tends to be bright red. Blood from the tranverse colon and right colon tends to be dark red or even maroon in color.

    Melena

    • If your stool is black and tarry this could be the result of iron supplements or even food poisoning or it can be an indication that bleeding has occurred in the upper gastrointestinal tract. Black, tarry stool is called melena. It is sticky and foul smelling. Melena happens when blood exists in the colon long enough for the bacteria in the colon to break down the blood into hematin, which is a chemical that is black in color.

    Ulcers

    • Black stool is an indicator that you may have bleeding ulcers in the stomach or bleeding ulcers in the duodenum, or small intestine. Because of the location of the bleed, the blood is in your GI tract for a long period of time before it exits your body in a bowel movement. However, blood that originates in the rectum or sigmoid colon isn't in your system long enough to be turned black by bacteria, according to Medicinenet.com

    Considerations

    • According to Mothernature.com, diverticulitis can cause significant rectal bleeding because it is a hemorrhage. Diverticulitis is defined as a weakened spot in the wall of the colon, which can bleed. According to Barry Jaffin, M.D., who is a specialist in gastrointestinal motility disorders and a clinical instructor in the Department of Gastroenterology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City, another cause of blood in the stool is inflammatory bowel disease. This is a digestive disorder and is painful.

    Causes

    • Bloody stool can be caused by hemorrhoids, a peptic ulcer, Crohn's disease, anal cancer or an anal fissure, colon cancer or colon cancer, just to name a few, according to the Mayo Clinic.

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