A kidney stone is a hard object formed by chemicals in urine. Kidney stones are classified into four types: calcium oxalate, uric acid, struvite, and cystine. Shockwave lithotripsy, ureteroscopy, percutaneous nephrolithotomy, or nephrolithotripsy can all be used to treat a kidney stone. Common symptoms include severe lower back pain, blood in the urine, nausea, vomiting, fever and chills, and urine that stinks or seems murky.
Wastes of all kinds are dissolved in urine. Crystals start to form when there is an imbalance of waste to liquid. If the solid is not expelled from the body through urine, the crystals will continue to draw in more substances and come together to create a bigger solid. The body's chief chemist, the kidney, typically eliminates these compounds in the urine. Most people either have enough liquid to wash them out or have additional substances in their urine that prevent stones from developing. The substances that cause stones to develop include calcium, oxalate, urate, cystine, xanthine, and phosphate.
After forming, the stone may remain in the kidney or pass through the ureter and into the lower urinary system. Small stones can occasionally pass through the body through the urine without causing too much discomfort. A pee backup in the kidney, ureter, bladder, or urethra, however, might result from stones that don't move. This is what is hurting you.
On rare occasions, the stones need to be surgically removed because they are too huge. Kidney stones are usually very painful and may necessitate a trip to the emergency department.
The following are risk factors for kidney stones:
- Past experience of having kidney stones or genetic genealogy
- Dehydration
- Diets that are heavy in salt, sugar, or protein
- Obesity
- High blood pressure
- Diabetes
- Cystinuria
Kidney stones are produced from a variety of crystals. Sometimes the stones are made of a single type of crystal, but more often than not, they are a combination of crystals. The most common crystal type indicates the sort of kidney stone you have.
Continue reading to find out more about the many types of kidney stones.
How widespread are kidney stones?
More than 500,000 patients visit emergency departments each year with kidney stone concerns. One out of every ten people will experience a kidney stone at some point in their lives.
In the United States, the frequency of kidney stones grew from 3.8% in the late 1970s to 8.8% in the late 2000s. During the 2013-2014 school year, the prevalence of kidney stones was 10%. Kidney stones are roughly 11% more often in males than in women. Other disorders, such as hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, may increase the risk of kidney stones.
What are the four varieties of kidney stones?
- Calcium stones
- Uric acid stones
- struvite stones (triple phosphate or magnesium ammonium phosphate)
- cystine stones
Calcium Oxalate/Stones
The most common sort of kidney stone occurs when calcium interacts with oxalate in the urine. Inadequate calcium and hydration intake, as well as other factors, may lead to their creation.
What causes Calcium stones?
Oxalate is a naturally occurring chemical present in a variety of foods. Food provides energy to your body. Waste items pass through the circulation to the kidneys and are eliminated through urine once your body has used what it needs. Urine contains a variety of wastes. Crystals can develop when there is too much waste in too little liquid. These crystals can combine to create a solid mass (a kidney stone). One sort of chemical that can create crystals in the urine is oxalate. This can happen if there is too much oxalate and not enough liquid, and the oxalate "sticks" to calcium when the kidneys are producing urine.
Uric acid Kidney Stones:
This is another common form of kidney stone. Purines are a natural chemical component found in organ meats and shellfish. A high purine diet increases the synthesis of monosodium urate, which, under the correct conditions, can cause kidney stones. These sorts of stones tend to run in families.
What causes Uric acid?
A purine-rich diet can result in uric acid. High purine diet increases the synthesis of monosodium urate, which can create uric acid stones in the kidneys under the correct circumstances. Uric acid stones occur when the levels of uric acid in the urine are consistently too high and/or the urine is excessively acidic.
This sort of stone formation can run in families. Inherited issues with how the body processes uric acid or protein in the diet might cause a rise in urine acidity. This is evident in illnesses such as gout, a disorder in which patients have excessive amounts of uric acid in their blood and painful crystal deposits in their joints. Diabetes patients are also more likely to develop uric acid stones. Patients who are undergoing chemotherapy are also at risk of developing uric acid stones.
Struvite Kidney stones:
These stones are less prevalent and are produced by upper urinary tract infections.
What Causes Struvite Kidney Stones?
Struvite stones are produced by a bacterial upper urinary tract infection (UTI). Ammonia, which bacteria create as a waste product, can make the urine less acidic (or more alkaline). When the urine gets more alkaline, struvite stones develop. A struvite stone's major ingredients are struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate) and calcium carbon-apatite. These stones have the potential to develop swiftly and to become extremely huge. This might arise with little symptoms or little warning at first.
Cystine Kidney stones:
Rare and frequently inherited.
Cystine kidney stones are often bigger than other kidney stones and have a propensity to come back. You might not be conscious of your cystine stone. To aid with the proper therapy for this illness, it is crucial to get stones detected.
What causes Cystine kidney stones?
"Cystinuria," an uncommon condition, is the root cause of cystine stones. An organic compound called "cystine" leaks into your urine as a result of the illness. Kidney stones can develop when there is an excessive amount of cystine in the urine. Anywhere along the urinary tract, including the kidneys, the bladder, and more, these stones can become lodged. Recurrent stones are common in those who have cystinuria. It is a chronic ailment that can only be managed over the course of a lifetime.
Are there several treatments for different kinds of kidney stones?
It doesn't matter what kind of stone a kidney stone is after it has developed; the therapy is the same. Nevertheless, the size of the stone will have a significant role.
Urine travels via the ureter, a tube, from your kidney to your bladder. Only 3 to 4 millimeters or so are found inside the ordinary ureter.
The least intrusive therapy for stones tiny enough to pass through your ureter is to let them pass spontaneously. Lots of water should be consumed, a healthcare practitioner may advise. In order to control discomfort or lessen urine acidity, you could also take medicine. It can take four to six weeks to complete this.
Larger stones will require more urgent care.
- An outpatient technique called lithotripsy is performed to fragment kidney stones so they can pass naturally.
- To remove or fragment kidney stones, a cystoscopy or ureteroscopy might be utilized. In order to access the stone during these operations, a doctor must put a specific device via your urethra.
- You might need to have very big stones surgically removed using a process known as percutaneous nephrolithotomy.
How to lower the chances of having kidney stones:
Drink enough Water
Getting enough liquids will keep the concentration of waste materials in your urine from building up. If you are fully hydrated, your urine should be extremely light yellow to transparent since darker pee is more concentrated. Your primary fluid intake should be water.
The average person needs to consume more than 12 glasses of water each day. Consult a healthcare practitioner to determine how much water is appropriate for you. Compared to soda, sports drinks, and coffee/tea, water is healthier. You should drink extra if you exercise or if it's hot outside. Small amounts of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup should be used.
Eat fruit and vegetables
Consume more fruits and vegetables to reduce the acidity of the urine. Stones may be less likely to develop when the urine is less acidic. Animal protein results in more acidic urine, which elevates your risk of kidney stones.
also read: High fructose fruits to avoid for kidney health
Reduce your consumption of salt and spices
You can cut back on the extra salt you consume. What foods contain a lot of salt? French fries and salty potato chips come to mind for everyone. Rarely should they be consumed. Sandwich meats, canned soups, packaged dinners, and even sports drinks are examples of additional salty goods. Reduce the quantity of spices you use as well. I know there are healthy spices available, but you don't have to use them in place of salt because they still include salt.
Consume Dairy Products
Although dairy products include calcium, they actually help in the prevention of kidney stones because calcium binds with oxalate before it enters the kidneys. Kidney stones are more likely to develop in those with the lowest dietary calcium consumption. Salt, protein byproducts, and potassium can all combine to produce stones. Calcium oxalate kidney stones are the most typical kind.
Oxalate, a byproduct of several diets, binds to calcium as urine is produced by the kidneys, which is how the majority of kidney stones are created. When the body doesn't get enough fluids and also has too much salt in it, both oxalate and calcium are raised. Your doctor will decide what kinds of dietary modifications are required in your specific situation based on blood and urine tests.
How are kidney stones Diagnosed?
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A medical history, physical exam, and imaging testing are the first steps in the diagnosis of a kidney stone. Your doctors will want to know the precise size and form of the kidney stones. This can be done using a high-resolution CT scan from the kidneys to the bladder or a KUB x-ray (kidney-ureter-bladder x-ray), which will indicate the size and location of the stone. Surgeons frequently get a KUB x-ray to establish whether the stone may be treated with shock waves.
Although the CT scan is frequently favored for diagnosis, the KUB test may be utilized to monitor your stone both before and after therapy. A particular sort of X-ray of the urinary system called an intravenous pyelogram, or lVP, which is obtained after injecting a dye, may also be prescribed by doctors for some patients.
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Second, the treatment for your stone will be decided by your doctors. Blood and urine tests will be used to assess the condition of your kidneys. We will take into account your general health as well as the size and placement of your stone.
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Your doctor will later seek to determine what caused the stone. Your doctor will check your blood for calcium, phosphorus, and uric acid in addition to analyzing the stone after it has been removed from your body. In order to test for calcium and uric acid, the doctor can additionally ask you to keep track of your urine for 24 hours.
Summary
There are four main types of kidney stones: calcium, uric acid, struvite, and cystine.
For all forms of kidney stones, there are relatively comparable treatment approaches. The stone's size is frequently the most crucial consideration when choosing a course of action.
A person's diet, an illness, or genetic problems are only a few examples of the varied causes of stones. The best strategy to avoid getting stones again may be determined by understanding the sort of stone you have.
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