Why do kidney stones appear and how to prevent it

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

If the urine has darkened, this is a sign: trouble is on the way.

Kidney Stones: Symptoms and Causes are hard deposits of salts that form inside the kidneys. These deposits are flushed out of the body in the urine and, if large enough, can cause a lot of trouble.

A large stone can block the urinary tract, making it difficult or impossible to use the toilet. And as a bonus - acute unbearable pain in the back or lower abdomen.

Only in the Russian Federation is urolithiasis affected by urolithiasis. Morbidity. Dynamics. Forecast up to 800 thousand people. And these are just those who have been officially diagnosed. In general, doctors assume the Kidney Stones that every tenth inhabitant of the planet encounters kidney stones at one point or another in his life.

Kidney Stones: A Global Picture of Prevalence, Incidence, and Associated Risk Factors are diagnosed in men about twice as often as in women.

And this means that you need to be prepared to meet this disease: it is not a fact that it will bypass you.

When to see a doctor immediately

Call an ambulance or, depending on the condition, urgently recruit a therapist, urologist or nephrologist for a consultation if:

• pain in the lower abdomen or lumbar region is so sharp and severe that you cannot find a place for yourself;
• painful sensations are accompanied by nausea or vomiting;
• against the background of pain, your temperature rises;
• blood appears in the urine;
• it is generally very difficult for you to urinate.

Such symptoms indicate a serious impairment of the functioning of the kidneys or possible damage to the urinary tract, which leads to their infection. The consequences can be the most serious, up to the death of the kidney and the patient himself.

How to recognize kidney stones

Quite often, urolithiasis is asymptomatic. That is, there are formations in the kidneys, but they do not manifest themselves in any way - due to their small size. Problems begin when the salt deposits become large enough or block the ureter, the tube that connects the kidneys and bladder. In this case, urine cannot leave the kidney, which leads to the appearance of renal colic.

Signs that suggest the presence of kidney stones look like this:

• dull or sharp pain in the lumbar region, which increases with the slightest physical exertion or shaking - for example, when driving in public transport;
• sometimes severe pain when urinating;
• cloudy, dark urine;
• more frequent urge to run to the toilet.

If you have at least a couple of these symptoms, be sure to see a therapist as soon as possible. The doctor will send you for an ultrasound scan, which will help diagnose urolithiasis.

See what a kidney overgrown with stones looks like Close

Where do kidney stones come from?

The appearance of stones, as a rule, is caused not by any one, but by a whole complex of reasons. Here are the main Kidney Stone Causes.

1. Lack of fluid

Kidney stones form when the urine contains more crystal-forming substances (calcium, oxalates, uric acid) than the liquid can dilute. If your body does not receive enough water and lives in conditions of mild dehydration, the risk of developing urolithiasis increases.

2. Wrong diet

Excessively salty or sweet food, as well as too much red meat, smoked meats, canned food, shellfish and some types of greens - spinach, sorrel, celery, asparagus, soy, rhubarb can provoke the formation of deposits.

But dairy products, despite the high calcium content, do not affect the formation of stones. So you can continue to eat cheese, cottage cheese, yoghurts without restrictions.

3. Inflammatory bowel disease

For example, Crohn's disease, ulcerative colitis, chronic diarrhea. They disrupt the digestive process, which affects the absorption of calcium and water and increases the amount of crystal-forming substances in the urine.

4. Obesity

If you are obese, that is, you have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, your risk of urolithiasis doubles.

5. Heredity

The tendency to form kidney stones may be due to genetic factors. Be especially attentive to yourself if any of your immediate family members have been diagnosed with urolithiasis.

6. Taking some medications

The following can stimulate the appearance of stones:

• certain antibiotics, in particular ciprofloxacin and sulfonamides;
• some medicines used to treat HIV and AIDS;
• diuretics, such as those used to treat high blood pressure (there is a slight caveat: thiazide-type diuretics, on the other hand, help prevent stones).

7. Presence of other diseases

Kidney stones are often a side effect of:

• certain genetic diseases (for example, medullary spongiform kidney - a congenital defect that causes the formation of cysts in the kidney tissue);
• type 2 diabetes (diabetes makes the urine more acidic, which stimulates the formation of stones);
• gout (with this disease, uric acid accumulates in the blood);
• hyperparathyroidism (this malfunction of the parathyroid glands increases the level of calcium in the blood and urine);
• renal tubular acidosis.

How to treat kidney stones

It all starts with a diagnosis. The therapist (or urologist, nephrologist, if you immediately came to them) will listen to your complaints, conduct an examination. If he suspects kidney problems, he will offer to take several tests:

• do a blood test: this will provide information about the amount of calcium and uric acid in it;
• pass a urine test;
• undergo an ultrasound, computed tomography or x-ray of the abdominal cavity.

Treatment may differ depending on the test results and the size of the stones found.

With small (up to 0.5 centimeters) formations, conservative therapy is prescribed. The doctor will recommend that you drink 1, 9-2, 8 liters of liquid a day to wash the pebble naturally. To reduce pain, over-the-counter pain relievers based on paracetamol or ibuprofen are usually prescribed. In some cases, you will need to take alpha-blockers: they relax the muscles of the ureter, making it easier for the stones to pass.

If the deposits are larger, they are destroyed using electromagnetic waves (called extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy). One session lasts 40-60 minutes and is carried out under sedation or light anesthesia. It may take four to five sessions to get rid of the stones.

Another option is the method of intracorporeal lithotripsy. This procedure is carried out exclusively under general anesthesia. During it, a surgical instrument is inserted into the urinary tract, and the stones are crushed with a laser and immediately removed.

What to do to reduce your risk of kidney stones

First of all - adjust your lifestyle.

• Drink plenty of fluids. Experts from the medical resource WebMD recommend that Kidney Stone Causes drink at least 10 glasses of water a day. The water in one of these glasses can be substituted for orange or lemon juice, which helps to slow down the formation of stones.
• Limit salt intake.
• Adjust your diet. Reduce the amount of meat, especially red, canned food, smoked meats and greens that are harmful to the kidneys (the types are listed above).
• Try to lose weight. Or at least don't make yourself obese.

And of course, it's worth keeping an eye on your health. To catch kidney stones in the early stages of development, at least once a year undergo a routine examination by a nephrologist or urologist and do an ultrasound.