Things that you should know about kidney stones

People who are already suffering from kidney stones are usually the last ones to realize the importance of taking care of the kidney. Unknown to many, kidney forms a very important role in the person’s system because it acts as the ultimate “filter” for blood. When the kidney functions well, it can remove the waste products and substance from the body. This will help a person to regulate the proper level of chemicals and enables the body to function properly.

When kidney suffers from complications such as kidney stones, it can disrupt its filtering function and may even cause more complicated diseases in people.


Guidelines to remember

Experts say that not all kidney stones are harmful as long as they are not located in the utererthe tube that is connected with the bladder and where urine passes. For people who are prone to kidney stones, it is a must to memorize the guidelines below to ensure that they are knowledgeable enough in case they might be suffering from the condition.

1. Definition of kidney stones. It is very important to know what is really a kidney stone. By definition, kidney stone is a result of substances and other minerals crystallized in the urine. Kidney stones are hard pieces of materials that can block the passage of urine and may cause pain and infection to the person suffering from it. These stone may grow in size and in number when remained undiagnosed or untreated. Experts categorize kidney stone types into four including “calcium oxalate” caused by too much calcium in the kidney, “struvite stone” caused by an urinary system infection, “uric acid stone” caused by too much acid in the urine, and “cystine stones” which is caused by too much cystine in the peson’s body.

2. Causes of kidney stones. Many factors point out to the possible causes of kidney stones, which may include heredity which refers to the kidney related diseases that runs in many generations of the family, geographical location which refers to the places where the disease is common caused by other related factors such as climate and way of living, diet which may cause the development of the stone especially if they have high contents of calcium, sodium, and oxalates, OTC products which increases the levels of kidney stone-forming chemicals and substances in the body, and lack of regular physical exercise.

3. Symptoms of kidney stones. You might be suffering from kidney stones if you feel insistent pain in varying levels in your back or side, tinge of blood present in your urine, slight chills or fever which indicates infections, often vomiting, foul smelling urine, cloudy or yellowish urine, urge to urinate often and painful urination.

4. Who are prone to kidney stones. Experts say that middle-aged men are more prone to developing kidney stones compared to other age brackets. This is because this is when people are reckless and careless about their lifestyles. However, women and kids may also suffer from kidney stones depending on their risk factors such as heredity, lifestyle, and medical condition.

5. Diagnosis for kidney stones. Doctors are the best ones who can give accurate diagnosis on kidney stones. When you visit a doctor, he may perform medical history check, lifestyle check, and laboratory tests and examinations so he would determine which treatment options are appropriate for you.

6. Treatments available. For mild kidney stones, medications to relieve pain are given. For those who are having more complicated stones, medical procedures are available such as shock waves, lithotripsy, tunnel surgery and ureteroscope.