Category: General Health

How can Kidney Stones Affect your Life

Unknown to many people, kidney stones is the most common complication that involves the kidney, uterer, and bladder. They also dont realize the importance of the role that kidneys play in the person’s system. Most people dont realize it but kidneys are very important because they act 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.

Today, more and more peoplebecause of unhealthy diet and laid back living and minimal physical movementssuffer from kidney stones and they have yet to realize how can it affect their overall health. Many experts agree that any person has great chances of encountering kidney stones in one point of his or her life.

But, with early diagnosis, healthy lifestyle, diet to prevent the condition, and regular exercise, one can recover from it. However, recovering might be easy but if people would not religiously follow the keys to avoiding kidney stones, chance are, they will have it again probably in the next 10 or 15 years of his or her life.

What you need to know

Many people tend to neglect kidney stones because they think that they can easily recover from it with all the medications and medical procedures available today. One thing that they dont realize is that if they continue to have their kidney stones unchecked or undiagnosed, they are more prone to develop related diseases which will make their health conditions more complicated.

To avoid further complications when it comes to kidney stones, it is best that you arm yourself with all the knowledge that you can getespecially if you think that you are prone to the condition.

The first thing that you need to know about kidney stones is what it really is. Kidney stones are made up of minerals and other excess substances in body. It is the product when these substances and minerals are formed in the person’s urine. The process of developing kidney stones involved the crystallization of minerals and other elated substances then form a “lumps” which can be hard as a real stone.

Experts say that people who have kidney stones don’t have to worry so much about its size but should more focus on where its is located. The location of the kidney stones matter that much because it can cause the kidney and other related organs not to function very well.

Doctors agree that kidney stones that sit in the kidney itself are not much of a problem. But if it’s located it the utererthe tube that connects to the bladderit is a very big problem. This is because the stoneregardless of its sizecan block the path where the urine should pass. When this happens, it will cause the person a great deal of pain because it will stretch the kidney so much.

Another thing that you should also pay attention to is the possible causes of the condition. Experts say that there are a number of factors that may cause the development of kidney stones.

These factors may include the Urinary Tract Infections (UTI) that the person has developed, kidney failure, diseases that may have been inherited that involves the kidney, foods that contain high levels of calcium, sodium, oxalates, and others, as well as lack of regular movement or exercise.

How Are Kidney Stones Diagnosed

Do you have kidney stones? You will never know until you are examined by a doctor because the symptoms associated with this problem are very similar to UTI or urinary tract infection.

So, you have to set an appointment with the doctor. While there, he or she will review your medical history and conduct a physical examination before running some tests.

If you are a regular patient of the doctor, it will be easy to pull your file out. However, if this is your first time, you will have to fill up the form and get your medical files.

Your medical history does not say much about kidney stones especially if you have never had this before which is why the next step is to conduct a physical examination. Here, the doctor will look at you physically and touch certain areas. This is hard for the doctor to do if the patient is in extreme pain.

So the best way to confirm initial findings is through laboratory tests. The doctor will either extract blood or ask a urine sample from you.

You may also have to be scanned and there are a variety of machines for that. These include a computed tomography (CT) scan, intravenous pyelogram (IVP), retrograde pyelogram, and the regular X-ray.

The CT scan is used for various examinations. A scanner and a computer are used to create images of the urinary system. The only problem is that it has difficulty detecting small stones if they are located near the bladder. If a stone is found, an x-ray follows to determine the orientation, shape and size of the kidney stone.

Intravenous Pyelogram or IVP is done after a contrasting agent is injected into the vein. Within minutes, the test will show if there is a kidney stone blocking the ureter. This is perhaps the best method to check if you have kidney stones even if there is a slight risk for an allergic reaction to the fluid that was injected into the vein.

If you think that the ultrasound is only used to see the baby growing inside the womb, think again because it can also be used to detect a dilated upper urinary tract and kidney if the stone is lodged in the ureter. Its limitation is that it cannot detect kidney stones that are no longer in the kidney area.

Another term for retrograde pyelogram is a cytoscopy. The test begins by inserting a telescopic instrument into the bladder. Then, similar to the IVP, a contrast agent is injected into this opening and an x-ray is done to find the kidney stone.

Some doctors say this is better than IVP because there is no way to get an allergic reaction from the contrasting agent. This is because you will first be injected with anesthesia so in essence, you dont feel anything.

Among the different tests done to detect kidney stones, this is only used when other tests have proven to be inadequate or unsuccessful.

It is only after careful diagnosis that doctors will be able to tell if you have kidney stones or not. From there, they can treat you by giving some medication or advising you to drink lots of water because you may be able to expel the stones on your own. But if this does not work, then surgery is the next option.

How to cure kidney stones

As in any sickness, the key to the formation of kidney stones is in prevention especially since a person who had more than one kidney stone in her life will most likely develop kidney stones in the future. Regular check-up to the doctor is one way to ensure that all kinds of sickness are prevention. Paying extra for a regular set of tests like sugar, urine and blood tests will even better your chances of preventing certain conditions from developing. Think how less expensive that would be than when you actually become sick and you have to buy expensive medicines and pay a lot more for certain procedures.

Most kidney stones pass through the urinary system easily so drink lots and lots of water and do not mind going to the bathroom to urinate every now and then. Often times, people with kidney stones are only told to take lots of fluids and maybe some medication. Although the actual kidney stones are important in assessing the actual status so the patient may also be tasked to preserve their kidney stones and submit it for testing. Depending on the diagnosis, patients urine may also have to be analyzed for a whole day. Another day after initial medication or treatments are taken and done will also be set aside for another 24 hour urine analysis.

A change in lifestyle is also a very effective treatment. If you are not the type who drinks lots of fluids then it is high time that you learn to drink enough liquids in a day so that you will be able to produce at least 2 quarts of urine. While certain food are believed to contribute tot eh formation of kidney stones, moderation is really the key.

In the past, food high in calcium are shunned but recent studies have proven that calcium high foods including dairy products like milk can actually prevent formation of calcium stones. What should be watched out is the intake of calcium pills, food added with vitamin D and certain types of antacids that have a calcium base. A person who has a relatively high presence of acid in his urine is also advised to eat less meat, fish and poultry because eating these will further increase acid in urine.

There are medicines that maybe prescribed by doctors to somehow control the production of acid and alkali in urine. This is vital because acid or alkali are key factors in the forming of crystals. Allopurinol can be useful for cases of hyperuricosuria.

Hydrochlorothiazide favors calcium retention hence reducing the amount of calcium released by the kidneys which is in turn results to low or no formation of calcium tones. Sodium cellulose phosphate, on the other hand, secretes calcium in the intestines to prevent it from leaking to the urine.

As for surgical procedures in taking out kidney stones, the very popular procedure is Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy or ESWL. This most frequently used procedure works when shock waves that are created outside the body travel into the skin and body tissues until they reach the denser stones. The shock causes the tones to break down in smaller particles so that they can easily pass through the urinary tract.

This sounds simple but potential risks and complications that may arise should always be discussed with the doctor before agreeing to go through the procedure.

Do You Know What a Kidney Stone Is

Do you know what a kidney stone is? These are minerals are salts that are found in your urine and when it hardens, it becomes a stone. Most of the time, these are very small that it does not cause any harm but if they get bigger or it builds up, then there is a problem.

Kidney stones do not just stay in the kidney. It can move to other parts of the body. When that happens, you will feel certain symptoms. You could feel pain coming from your back or pelvis, experience spasms, notice bloody, cloudy or smelly urine, feel sick, urinate frequently and have fevers and chills.

It is hard to tell if you have kidney stones because these symptoms also happen when you have UTI or urinary tract infection. Your doctor can only tell which is which after conducting some tests.

The different tests available include blood test, urine analysis, x-rays, ultrasound and non-contrast helical computerized tomography. If initial reports and the results confirm that you have kidney stones, then the proper treatment is administered.

Doctors dont know yet what causes kidney stones. Some believe it is caused by our lifestyle, due to certain medication, post surgery or therapy and in rare cases, a genetic disorder. This happens more often to men that women between the 20 to 40 age group.

If you are diagnosed with a kidney stone, you should know that treatment varies from one patient to the next because this depends on the kind of stone found in your kidney.

There are 4 types of kidney stones namely calcium uric acid, strutvite and cystine. The first 2 are the most common and if the size is less than 4 mm in diameter, you can expel it out of your system by drinking water and some medication.

Should the kidney stone be larger than 8 mm in diameter, this is the only time that surgery may be required.

The doctor may perform one of these procedures which include extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy, ureteroscopic stone removal and percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Each procedure is designed to shrink the kidney stone and if one treatment does not work, only then will they try something else. Surgery which has been practiced for so many years is now the last option.

Now that you know what kidney stones, is there a way to stop this from happening? Yes there is and the most effective way is through prevention. You do this by drinking 3 liters of water or 6 to 8 glasses a day, make some changes in your diet like eat and drink products that contain calcium and exercise regularly.

Kidney stones can happen to anyone regardless of age or gender but guys, you should be more careful because you are at greater risk of getting it. If you feel some pain, go and pay your doctor a visit. Dont wait until it gets worse.

If it is a false alarm, then that is good. But if you do have kidney stones, cooperate with the doctor and follow his or her directions. You should also ask if the kidney stones have caused any permanent damage and what are the risks of the procedure if it requires medical intervention. Kidney stones do happen but dont worry because it is after all, treatable.