We can not condemn the fact that the enterprises of the urinary system of the kidneys, ureters, bladder and urethra. The kidneys are two legume organs located close to the ribs towards the middle of the back. The kidneys remove excess water and waste from the blood, turning it into urine. They also maintain a stable balance of salts and other substances in the blood.
The kidneys create hormones that help build muscular bones and help form red blood cells. Narrow tubes, called ureters, transfer urine from the kidneys to the bladder, an oval chamber in the lower abdomen. Like a balloon, the bladder stretches and walls develop for urine storage. They shrink together when urine is drained through the urethra outside the body.
A kidney stone is a solid mass obtained from crystals separated from urine and growing on the inner surfaces of the kidneys. Usually, urine contains chemicals that prevent or inhibit the formation of crystals. However, these inhibitors do not seem to work for everyone, so some people form stones. If the crystals remain small enough, they will pass through the urinary tract and leave the body in the urine without realizing it. Kidney stones may contain various combinations of chemicals. The most common type of stone contains calcium in combination with oxalate or phosphate. These chemicals are part of the normal human diet and make up important parts of the body, such as bones and muscles.
A less common type of stone is caused by an infection in the urinary tract. This type of stone is called struvite or infectious stone. Uric acid stone is slightly less common. Cystine stones are rare.
Urolithiasis is the medical term used to describe stones occurring in the urinary tract. Other commonly used terms are urinary tract stones and nephrolithiasis. Doctors also use terms that describe the location of the stone in the urinary tract. For example, ureteral stone (or ureterolithiasis) is a kidney stone found in the ureter. However, to keep things simple, the term “kidney stones” is used throughout the newsletter.
Gallstones and kidney stones are not related. They are formed in different areas of the body. If you have a gallstone, you will not necessarily develop a kidney stone.
For unknown reasons, the number of people with kidney stones in the United States has increased over the past 30 years. The prevalence of stone-forming disease increased from 3.8 percent in the late 1970s to 5.2 percent in the late 1980s and early 1990s. White Americans are more likely to develop kidney stones than African Americans. Stones are often found in men. The prevalence of kidney stones increases significantly as men enter their 40s and continue to grow until the 1970s. For women, the prevalence of kidney stones reaches 50 years. When a person gets more than one stone, others are likely to develop. Doctors do not always know what causes the formation of a stone. Although certain foods may contribute to the formation of stones in people who are unacceptable, scientists do not believe that the use of any particular food causes the formation of stones in people who are not susceptible. A person with a family history of kidney stones may be more likely to develop stones. Urinary tract infections, kidney diseases, such as cystic kidney diseases, and some metabolic disorders, such as hyperparathyroidism, are also associated with the formation of stones. In addition, more than 70% of people with a rare hereditary disease called renal-tubular acidosis develop kidney stones.
Cystinuria and hyperoxaluria are two other rare, inherited metabolic disorders that often cause kidney stones. In cystinuria, too much of the amino acid cystine that does not dissolve in the urine is canceled. This can lead to the formation of cystine stones. In patients with hyperoxaluria, the body produces too much oxalate salt. When there is more oxalate than it can dissolve in the urine, crystals precipitate and form stones.
Hypercalciuria is inherited. This is the cause of stones in more than half of the patients. Calcium is absorbed from food in excess and is lost in the urine. This high level of urinary calcium causes the formation of calcium oxalate or calcium phosphate crystals in the kidneys or urinary tract.
Other causes of kidney stones are hyperuricuria, which is a disorder of uric acid metabolism, gout, excess vitamin D intake, urinary tract infections and urinary tract blockage. Some diuretics, commonly called water pills or calcium-based antacids, may increase the risk of kidney stones by increasing the amount of calcium in the urine.
Calcium oxalate stones can also be formed in people with chronic intestinal inflammation or who have had a bowel bypass operation or stoma surgery. As mentioned above, struvite stones can form in people who have had a urinary tract infection. People who take the proteinase inhibitor indinavir, a drug used to treat HIV infection, are at risk for developing kidney stones.
Kidney stones often cause no symptoms. As a rule, the first symptom of a kidney stone is severe pain, which occurs when the stone abruptly blocks the flow of urine. The pain often begins suddenly when the stone moves in the urinary tract, causing irritation or blockage. As a rule, a person feels a sharp, crampy pain in the back and side in the kidney area or in the lower abdomen. Sometimes nausea and vomiting occur. Later, the pain may spread to the groin. If the stone is too large to pass easily, the pain continues as the muscles in the wall of the tiny ureter try to squeeze the stone into the bladder. When a stone grows or moves, blood may appear in the urine. When the stone moves down the ureter closer to the urinary bladder, you may feel the need to urinate more often or feel a burning sensation while urinating.
If fever and chills accompany any of these symptoms, an infection may be present. In this case, you should immediately consult a doctor.
Sometimes "silent" stones - those that do not cause symptoms - are detected on x-rays taken during a general medical examination. If they are small, these stones are likely to come out of the body unnoticed.
More often, kidney stones are on an X-ray or a sonogram taken from someone who complains of blood in the urine or sudden pain. These diagnostic images give the doctor valuable information about the size and location of the stone. A blood and urine test helps detect any abnormal substance that may contribute to the formation of stones.
The doctor may decide to scan the urinary system using a special test called CT (computed tomography) or IVP (intravenous pyelogram). The results of all these tests help determine the correct treatment.
How are kidney stones covered?
Fortunately, surgery is usually not required. Most kidney stones can pass through the urinary system with plenty of water (2 to 3 quarts per day) to help move the stone. Often you can stay at home during this process, take fluids and take painkillers as needed. Usually the doctor asks you to save the passed stone (s) for testing. (You can catch it in a cup or teapot used only for this purpose.)
First step: warning
If you had more than one kidney stone, you will probably build another; therefore, prevention is very important. To prevent the formation of stones, your doctor should determine the cause. He or she will order laboratory tests, including urinalysis and blood tests. Your doctor will also ask you about your medical history, activities and eating habits. If a stone has been removed or if you have passed a stone and saved it, the laboratory must analyze it, because its composition helps with treatment planning.
You may be asked to collect your urine within 24 hours after the stone has passed or been removed. The sample is used to measure urine volume and acidity levels, calcium, sodium, uric acid, oxalate, citrate, and creton (muscle metabolism product). Your doctor will use this information to determine the cause of the stone. A second 24-hour urine collection may be necessary to determine if the prescribed treatment is working.
Lifestyle changes
A simple and important lifestyle change to prevent stones is to drink more fluid — water is best. If you tend to form stones, you should try to drink enough fluids throughout the day to get at least 2 quarts of urine in every 24-hour period.
People who form calcium stones are used to avoiding dairy products and other foods high in calcium. But recent studies have shown that foods high in calcium, including dairy products, can help prevent calcium stones. However, taking calcium in pill form may increase the risk of developing stones.
You may be asked to avoid foods with added vitamin D and certain types of antacids that are calcium based. If you have very sour urine, you may need less meat, fish and poultry. These products increase the amount of acid in the urine.
To prevent cystine stones, you should drink enough water daily to dilute the concentration of cystine that slips into the urine, which can be difficult. More than a gallon of water may be needed every 24 hours, and a third should be drunk overnight.
Oxalate-containing foods and beverages
People cut oxalate stones with stones, their doctor may ask to reduce some products if their urine contains an excess of oxalate:
- beet
- chocolate
- coffee
- cola
- nuts
- rhubarb
- spinach
- Strawberry
- tea
- wheat bran
Medical therapy
The doctor may prescribe certain drugs to prevent calcium and uric acid stones. These drugs control the amount of acid or alkali in the urine, key factors in the formation of crystals. Allopurinol drug may also be helpful in some cases of hyperuricuricuria.
Doctors usually try to control hypercalciuria and thus prevent calcium stones by prescribing certain diuretics, such as hydrochlorothiazide. These drugs reduce the amount of calcium excreted by the kidneys in the urine, due to the preservation of calcium in the bone. They work best when sodium consumption is low.
Very rarely, patients with hypercalciuria can be given medicinal sodium cellulose phosphate, which binds calcium in the intestine and leads to its leakage in the urine.
If cystine stones cannot be controlled by drinking more fluids, your doctor may prescribe such drugs as Thiola and Cuprimine, which help reduce the amount of cystine in the urine. For struvite stones that have been completely removed, the first line of prevention is to keep the urine free of bacteria that can cause infection. Your urine will be checked regularly to make sure there are no bacteria.
If the struvite stones cannot be removed, your doctor may prescribe a drug called acetohydroxamic acid (AHA). AHA is used with long-term antibiotics to prevent infections that lead to the growth of stones.
People with hyperparathyroidism sometimes develop calcium stones. The treatment in these cases is usually an operation to remove the parathyroid glands (located in the neck). In most cases, only one of the glands is enlarged. Removal of saliva eliminates the patient’s problem with hyperparathyroidism and kidney stones.
Surgery
Surgery should be reserved as an option in cases where other approaches have failed. Surgery may be required to remove a kidney stone if it is:
- does not pass after a reasonable period of time and causes constant pain
- too large to pass by yourself or done in a difficult place
- blocks urine flow
- causing urinary tract infection
- damages kidney tissue or causes permanent bleeding
- Increased (as can be seen from subsequent x-ray studies).
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy
Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) is the most commonly used procedure for treating kidney stones. In ESWL, shock waves that are created outside the body pass through the tissues of the skin and body until they hit the denser stones. Stones break into sand particles and are easily passed through the urinary tract in the urine.
In most cases, ESWL can be performed on an outpatient basis. Recovery time is limited and most people can resume normal activities within a few days.
There may be complications with ESWL. Most patients have blood in their urine for several days after treatment. Bruising and minor discomfort in the back or abdomen from shock waves are also common. To reduce the risk of complications, doctors usually tell patients to avoid taking aspirin and other drugs that affect blood clotting for several weeks before treatment.
Another complication can occur if particles of a destroyed stone cause discomfort when they pass through the urinary tract. In some cases, the doctor inserts a small tube, called a stent through the bladder, into the ureter to help the fragments pass. Sometimes a stone is not completely destroyed by a single treatment, and additional treatment may be required. ESWL is not ideal for very large stones.
Percutaneous nephrolithotomy
Sometimes a procedure called percutaneous nephrolithotomy is recommended to remove the stone. This treatment is often used when the stone is large enough or in a place that does not effectively use ESWL.
One of the advantages of percutaneous nephrolithotomy over ESWL is that the surgeon removes stone fragments instead of relying on their natural passage from the kidney.
Removal of ureteroscopic stone
Although some kidney stones in the ureters can be treated with ESWL, ureteroscopy may be needed for middle and lower ureter stones. This procedure is not cut. Instead, the surgeon passes a small fibrous instrument called the ureteroscope through the urethra and the bladder in the ureter. The surgeon then detects a stone and either removes it with a cell-type device, or destroys it with a special tool that creates a shock wave form. A small tube or stent can be left in the ureter for several days to help the lining of the ureter. Before fiber optics made ureteroscopy possible, doctors used a blind basket extraction method. But this outdated method should not be used, because it can damage the ureters.
Hope through research
CIDPUSA has conducted a study to provide you with herbal and homeopathic treatment that will remove all the stones at home. Try it at home today. People who had surgeons told them that they were at risk of surgery helped cidpusa herbal protocol at home.
Prophylactic points to consider
- If you have a family history of stones or you have more than one stone, you are likely to grow more stones.
- A good first step that prevents the formation of any type of stone is to drink plenty of fluids, the best.
- If you have a risk of developing stones, your doctor may perform certain blood and urine tests to determine which factors are best changed to reduce this risk.
- Some people will need medicine to prevent the formation of stones.
- People with chronic urinary tract infections and stones often need to remove the stone if the doctor determines that the infection is due to the presence of stones.
