Kidney Stones Disease - All The Things We have To Know About It

Living a healthy life is keeping away from any kidney stones disease. This is not accomplished overnight but by maintaining healthy eating habits and healthy lifestyle in order to avoid it.

Kidney stones are formed when the mineral deposits in the body hardened in the kidney. There is the inability of the kidney to filter waste products in the blood and dissolve them completely. In the process, these waste materials crystallize and become kidney stones.

Eating the right foods plays an important factor. Limit food intakes that are high in salt, sugar, vegetable protein, fats, meat, unrefined carbohydrates and oxalates like nuts and chocolates.

The following are the different kidney stones:

1. Calcium stones - They account for 75 to 85 percent of kidneys stones due to the build-up of calcium with carbonate, oxalate and phosphate. Prevalent in men.

2. Uric Acid stones - The cause is excessive uric acid and present in 5 to 10 percent. Men are mostly affected.

3. Struvite stones - Affected are women with urinary tract infection with 10 to 15 percent kidney stones possibility. Arise when calcium, magnesium and ammonium phosphate are combined.

4. Cystine stones - Caused by the combination of lysine, arginine and ornithine and 1 percent present in people with cystinuria. Cystinuria is the insufficient tubular reabsorption of a type of amino acids in the kidney.

The kidney is supposed to maintain substantial amounts of water in the urine to eliminate waste products. Otherwise, uric acid, oxalate and calcium will crystallize, forming into kidney stones.

Kidney stones may form due to insufficient fluid intake, reduced volume in urine, dehydration, high uric acid/calcium/oxalate, reflux, urinary tract infections (UTIs) and even genetic abnormalities.

Small kidney stones may already be situated in the tube that passes from the kidney to the bladder Pain now is already intense in the lower back side.Thus, proper diagnosis which includes physical examination, medical history, imaging and laboratory tests will be required.

Treatment will vary from the type and size of stone, evidence of urinary tract infection, cause and recurrence of condition. Smaller stones can be treated by alpha blockers due to its ability to relax the muscle tension in the ureter.

It is best to pass the stone naturally via the urine for collection and analysis. The analysis of the stone will help prevent the recurrence of the formation of the stone. If the kidney stones are not removed from the ureter within 30 days, surgery will be the last resort.

A urologist will have the option to remove the stones by:

1. Ureteroscopy - A telescopic instrument is inserted in the urethra through the bladder all the way to the ureter where the stone is located. A laser or similar device is used to break up the stone.

2. Lithotripsy - This is used to break small kidney stones by using a machine, instrument or probe so that it will pass naturally. Not applicable to persons with other medical conditions and those with very large stones. Treatment requires more than one hour and patients are sedated with the use of general or regional anesthesia. More than one treatment is needed.

a. Ultrasonic lithotripsy - High frequency sound waves are used and the fragments are removed surgically.

b. Electrohydraulic lithotripsy (EHL) - A flexible probe is used to break stones with shock waves from electricity.

c. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) - Kidney stones are pulverized from outside the body with the use of highly focused impulses.

3. Percutaneous Nephrostolithotomy (PCN) - This is a surgical operation that directly removes the stones from the kidney.

4. Open surgery- Extraction of the stone by making an incision at the patient's back.

As a prevention, it is always best to eat the right foods and maintain a healthy lifestyle in order to avoid kidney stones disease. Visiting our doctor regularly will pre-empt the worsening of it.