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Kidney Stones – All You Need to Know

Kidneys play an important role of detoxifying your body. But they become prone to stones when your urine contains a high concentration of minerals and other substances like calcium, oxalate, and uric acid that form crystals. In case you develop a small stone, like 4mm or less in length, you don’t need to worry much. It will usually pass through urine. But if you have a large stone, it may get trapped in your ureter and require surgical treatment.

Remember that kidney stones can develop anywhere along the urinary tract, including kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. And sometimes, they cause extremely painful conditions. However, timely diagnosis and treatment can treat kidney stones successfully.

Symptoms of Kidney Stones

Kidney stones symptoms are not always clear. Here are some warning signs to watch out for:

• Pain in the groin, the side of the abdomen, or both

• Blood in the urine (red, pink, or brown urine)

• Frequent need to urinate

• Pain while urinating

• Inability to urinate or urinating only a small amount

• Discoloured or foul-smelling urine

Other signs and symptoms may include:

• Nausea and vomiting

• Chills

• Fever

Causes of Kidney Stones

Kidney stones are caused by the increased level of certain substances in your urine. When your body does not have enough urine volume, which may be due to insufficient water intake, your urinary system cannot pass these substances out of the body. And these substances begin to crystalize. They form multiple crystals that stick together to make one or more stones.

The substances responsible for forming stones are calcium, oxalate, uric acid, phosphate, cystine, and xanthine.

Factors that can increase risk of kidney stones

• Dehydration

• Diet rich in protein and salt

• Hyperparathyroid condition

• Taking medications such as antiseizure drugs and calcium-based antacids

• Family history of kidney stones

• Being 40 or older

• Sedentary lifestyle

• Diabetes

• Obesity

• High blood pressure

• Surgery on the urinary system

• How your body absorbs calcium

Types of Kidney Stones

The type of kidney stone helps in diagnosing cause of the stone, and it also helps in determining the treatment option.

Calcium stones

Almost eighty percent of kidney stones are calcium stones. There are mainly two types of calcium stones - calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate.

Oxalate is a substance your liver produces daily or absorbs from your food. The primary sources of oxalate are fruits, vegetables, nuts, and chocolates. Other factors that can increase the concentration of calcium oxalate are high doses of vitamin D, intestinal bypass surgery, and metabolic disorders like renal tubular acidosis.

Another type of calcium stone is calcium phosphate. This type is commonly associated with metabolic disorders. In addition, certain medications to treat migraines or seizures also contain this substance, causing the build-up of crystals.

Struvite stones

This type of stone occurs due to chronic urinary tract infection caused by bacteria. The bacteria cause the infection that forms ammonia in your urine, leading to stone formation. These stones grow very fast and are often large, and they hardly show symptoms initially.

Uric acid stones

Uric acid, present in urine, does not dissolve well in acidic urine and takes the form of uric acid stones. The conditions responsible for causing acidic urine are mainly chronic diarrhoea and high blood sugar.

Cystine stones

Cystine stones are very rare. When the kidney excretes too much amino acid called cystine, and your urine contains a high amount of cystine, it causes the build-up of stones.

Treatment of Kidney Stones

Treatment depends on the type and size of the stone and how long you have been experiencing symptoms. In case of a small kidney stone, you may not need treatment as it may pass through urine on its own. However, your doctor may ask you to drink lots of water and wait for 30 days.

If your doctor decides that you need further kidney stones treatment, it will be either medication or surgery, depending on the condition of the stone.

Medication

The purpose of medication is to make the body favourable for the stone to pass through the urinary tract. Medication is prescribed to decrease pain and relax your ureter so that it can become easier for the stone to pass.

Surgery

If medication does not prove effective, or the pain gets unbearable, surgery may be required for kidney stones treatment. You might also need emergency surgery if the stone blocks the urine flow from the kidney. There are mainly four types of surgeries wherein the first three are minimally invasive and require a small incision.

• Ureteroscopy:

• Shockwave lithotripsy:

• Percutaneous nephrolithotomy:

• Other surgery

Conclusion

Once you know you have a stone, do not wait for more than four to six weeks to pass the stone out of your body. If it doesn’t happen naturally, consult a doctor. Meanwhile, you should drink lots of water and limit your salt intake.

Source: my.clevelandclinic, medicalnewstoday, mayoclinic, healthline

Disclaimer: This blog provides general information and discussions about health and related subjects. The information and other content provided in this blog, website or in any linked materials are not intended and should not be considered, or used as a substitute for, medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Kindly contact your Doctor before starting a new medicine or health regime.

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Published on August 17, 2022