Kidneys are the essential organs which perform the vital function of removing metabolic waste products from the blood and excreting them in urine, maintaining electrolyte balance, and regulating blood pressure. When water intake is low, urine tends to become concentrated and form crystals which gradually grow bigger and aggregate to form larger stones, the condition known as nephrolithiasis or renal lithiasis. Pain develops when the stone breaks away and becomes lodged in the urinary tract, either partially or totally blocking the passage of urine. Kidney stones are referred to as renal calculus, renal stone and ureteral calculus or stone, bladder calculus, or urethral stone, based on the location where they lodge.
One can suspect a kidney stone if there is sharp, excruciating pain in your back, side, lower abdomen, or groin; or have blood in your urine. Most of the people are unaware of kidney stones unless incidentally discovered on an x-ray done for a different medical problem. If shape and size do allow, kidney stones sometimes pass through with urine without significant discomfort after they break loose, but if they get lodged up somewhere along the urinary tract, in the ureters or the bladder, they cause problems with urination.
Calcium stones such as calcium oxalate are most common. Calcium phosphate stones form in conditions such as renal tubular acidosis, where the kidneys could not adequately filter out acids into the urine. In addition, struvite stones, uric acid stones, and cystine stones are some other types. Struvite stones develop in response to an infection, such as a urinary tract infection. These stones can grow quickly and become quite large. Uric acid stones can form in people who don't drink enough fluids or who lose too much fluid, those who eat a high-protein diet, and those who have gout. Cystine stones form in people with a hereditary disorder that causes the kidneys to excrete too much of certain amino acids such as cystine.
Treatment includes waiting for the stone to pass, physically fragmenting the stones or surgical removal; often a combination of this three-fold approach is required. Since people who have had one kidney stone are likely to develop more, kidney stone treatment involves not only addressing the immediate problem but also learning how to prevent the formation of additional kidney stones.
Prevention is better than cure always and drinking adequate water, avoiding high-protein foods for an extended period of time, avoiding high salt and sugar in diet, avoiding certain vegetables such as spinach, okra, beetroot, dried fig, and nuts, chocolate, black tea, and soybean products which have high oxalate content can help in stone prevention. Avoiding obesity by regular exercise and a healthy lifestyle can go a long way in preventing kidney stones.
