What causes the blood in stool?  

Blood in any form can be alarming. There are many conditions of having blood in stool. So, the key is to identify the cause of blood in stool and treat the particular cause. If you see any streaks of blood while passing stool, it’s wise to visit the doctor and have examined soon.

What causes blood in stool?

Blood in stool can occur anywhere due to bleeding from the gastrointestinal tract. The source of bleeding can roughly be determined by the appearance of it in stool. 
If your blood is dark or black in color, it is like that you are losing blood from upper gastrointestinal tract. It may be due to:

• Bleeding peptic or gastric ulcer
• Oesophageal variceal bleeding
• Massive tear in oesophagus or upper gastrointestinal tract 

If the blood in your stool is bright red in color, it probably originated from the lower gastrointestinal tract. It includes the following casues: 

• Hemorrhoids
• Bowel cancer
• Intestinal Polyp
• Anal fissure
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Invasive diarrhea
• Colitis
• Fistulas
• Intussusception 

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How to know the causes of blood in stool?

Your physician might want to have an upper GI endoscopy if suspected bleeding in upper part of the tract.

Similarly if the bleeding is from lower tract, then examination of the anal region is necessary to find out the local cause. Sometimes, the physician may need the lower gastrointestinal colonoscopy to find out the causes in intestine.

Blood hemoglobin level estimation is required to know the amount of blood loss from the body and if transfusion and suppliments are necessary.

What is the treatment for blood in stool?

The treatment for passing blood in stool is the treatment of the particular cause. So the key in treatment lies in identifying the cause of bleeding.
Upper gastrointestinal bleeding like variceal bleeding may need banding. Peptic ulcers are treated by medications and  modifications of food habits.
Lower gastrointestinal bleeding like colon cancer and polyps needs the surgery or endoscopic removal. 

Few things to take care:

Hard stool and constipation may aggavate the the bleeding and sometimes may be the sole cause of the blood in stool. So following dietary habits should be followed for making stool soft:

• Drink plenty of water and fluids, more than 2 liters per day
• Eat more fiber rich foods like: green vegetables, legumes and fruits
• Avoid fatty foods, junk foods and meat