Kidney Stones – Symptoms, Diagnosis, Types, Treatment and Risk Factors

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Kidney stones

Kidney stones are the depositions of minerals from the urine in the kidneys. They normally get passed by the urine causing no discrepancies. Sometimes if the depositions accumulated increase in size they cause severe pain by blocking the urethra passage. Due to this blocking of the passage there is a severe pain in the lower abdominal and lower back pains that radiate around the pelvis area. The chemical composition of these stones is calcium, struvite, uric acid.

As observed men are slightly more affected than women.

Symptoms of Kidney stones

  • Blood or pus in urine
  • Painful urination
  • Nausea
  • Fever

Diagnosis of Kidney stones

It’s usually done by the physical examination, urinalysis and radiography studies. Ultrasound examination and blood tests are also used in diagnosis of kidney stones

Types of kidney stones

Depending upon the location of the kidney stones they are classified as follows

  • Nephrolithiasis – located in kidneys
  • Ureterolithiasis- urethra
  • Cystolithiasis- bladder

Kidney stones Treatment

  • People who had history with kidney stones should be precautious.  They should check with themselves regularly and maintain healthy eating habits and drinking lot of fluids.
  • Drugs like thiazide diuretic, citrate or allopurinal may be taken. It is recommended that soft drinks containing phosphoric acid (typically colas) be avoided.
  • For stones which are causing symptoms, pain control is usually the first measure, using medications such as nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or opioids.
  • More severe cases may require procedures. For example, some stones can be shattered into smaller fragments using extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy.
  • Some cases require more invasive procedures. Examples of these are cystoscopic procedures such as laser lithotripsy or percutaneous techniques such as percutaneous nephrolithotomy.
  • Sometimes, a tube (ureteral stent) may be placed in the ureter to bypass the obstruction and alleviate the symptoms, as well as to prevent ureteral stricture after ureteroscopic stone removal.

Kidney stones

Kidney stones Risk factors

  • Dehydration from low fluid intake is a major factor in stone formation.
  • High dietary intake of animal protein, sodium, refined sugars, fructose and high fructose corn syrup, oxalate, grapefruit juice, and apple juice increase the risk of kidney stone formation.
  • Kidney stones can result from an underlying metabolic condition, such as distal renal tubular acidosis, Dent’s disease, hyperparathyroidism, primary hyperoxaluria, or medullary sponge kidney. 3–20% of people who form kidney stones have medullary sponge kidney.
  • Kidney stones are more common in people with Crohn’s disease Crohn’s disease is associated with hyperoxaluria and malabsorption of magnesium. A person with recurrent kidney stones may be screened for such disorders. This is typically done with a 24-hour urine collection. The urine is analyzed for features that promote stone formation

The above are the details about Kidney stones and for more details visit Wikipedia

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