Breast Cancer Awareness: Early Detection Is Key
If you have ever had to pass a kidney stone, you will likely agree that they are on the top ten list of health conditions that can cause excruciating pain. And nephrolithiasis or kidney stone disease continues to rise in the US, affecting 1 in 11 people, with an estimated 600,000 Americans suffering from urinary stones every year.
What are kidney stones?
These small, hard deposits usually form on the insides of your kidneys when high levels of different minerals and salts are in your urine. They can be smooth or jagged, as tiny as a grain of sand or, rare but possibly as large as a golf ball. Your body will typically try to pass them through your urethra with your urine, meaning that on their way out, kidney stones can be unbelievably painful.
What causes kidney stones?
There are four types of kidney stones:
Calcium stones
These are the most common kinds and they include both the calcium oxalate and the calcium phosphate varieties. When concentrations of calcium and oxalate and phosphorus build up in the kidney, they can form crystals that grow over time. The interesting thing is that avoiding dietary calcium is not recommended as it can help prevent them. Calcium binds with oxalate and phosphate in the stomach and small intestine keeping them from being absorbed and going to the kidneys.
Uric acid stones
These can happen when your urine has too much uric acid in it and may be caused by eating a lot of fish, shellfish, and meats, especially organ meat. Struvite stones
These stones can form suddenly and quickly, usually after a urinary tract infection. They are caused by an increase in bacteria that increases urine PH and produces ammonia as a breakdown product.
Cystine stones
This kind of kidney stone is an inherited, lifelong disorder. It is uncommon and related to cystinuria, which happens when the amino acid cystine leaks through your kidneys into your urine, potentially forming stones.
Kidney Stone Risk Factor
When are you most susceptible to getting kidney stones?
· Recurrent urinary tract infections
· Chronic bowel inflammation like ulcerative colitis can lead to diarrhea, which can dehydrate making what urine you do have more concentrated, which can contribute to stone formation.
· Obesity can cause elevated levels of insulin in the bloodstream, and acidic blood pH which in turn may cause increased amounts of calcium to be excreted into your urine.
· Type 2 diabetes and its connection to obesity and insulin resistance can contribute to higher levels of uric acid in urine.
· Family history of kidney stones
Kidney Stone Symptoms
If you are lucky, you might pass a kidney stone and not feel a thing. Unfortunately, most of the time, they cause unbearable pain as they scrape against the delicate walls of the kidneys, ureters (the tubes that connect the kidneys to the bladder), bladder, or urethra and/or block your ability to urinate.
Here are signs of kidney stones you should know:
· Sharp pains in your back, below your rib cage, in your lower abdomen, or in your groin area
· Nausea
· Vomiting
· Pink, red, or brown blood in your urine
· Feeling the need to urinate often but only being unable to do so a bit or not at all
· Burning or pain while you urinate
· Fever
· Chills
These symptoms can be like those of a urinary tract infection, so if you experience any of them a urine test can confirm a diagnosis of kidney stones.
Kidney Stone Treatment
For small stones to pass on their own:
· Plenty of fluids
· Pain relievers
Sometimes medication is needed to help relax the ureter and get the stone out more quickly.
For large stones, medical intervention is usually needed, and procedures may
include:
· Lithotripsy which uses a device that produces small shock waves and breaks the stones into smaller pieces.
· Ureteroscope which involves inserting a thin tube into the urinary tract to remove or break up the stone.
· Surgery may be required for very large stones.
How to Prevent Kidney Stones
· Stay hydrated
· Cut back on high sodium foods, animal protein, and oxalate foods.
· Cut back on caffeine in the form of coffee, tea, and soda
· Cut back on processed foods especially those with GMOs
For more research:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5817324/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4525130/
https://www.mayoclinicproceedings.org/article/S0025-6196(17)30844-3/pdf
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/kidney-stones-on-the-rise-
mayo-clinic-study-finds/
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