What Is A Kidney Stone, And Why Do I Have One?
Nephrolithiasis, or the formation of a kidney stone, is relatively common in the US population. For the US, the lifetime risk is between 6 to 12 percent. Over the past three decades, the prevalence of nephrolithiasis in the US has doubled and increased in most European countries and in Southeast Asia. When you have a non-obstructing kidney stone, you don’t have any symptoms except perhaps blood in your urine (hematuria). However, you may notice when you have a kidney stone when it passes into your ureter; you may experience intense pain (usually in the flank and eventually upper abdomen), nausea, vomiting and hematuria.
Symptoms vary depending on the location of the kidney stone. If it is in your lower ureter, pain may be in the testicle (for men) or labium (for women). Sometimes, frequency or urgency of urination can indicate a kidney stone. If you feel as though you are exhibiting these kinds of symptoms, a medical examination should be completed. Risk factors for kidney stones may be genetic, environmental (heat- water loss due to sweating), due to a kidney related disease, systemic disease, or related to other diseases.
There are calcium kidney stones and non-calcium stones. In both cases, super saturation of a stone-forming salt in urine occurs. However, an abundance of these salts are biologically necessary and only sometimes do they aggregate into kidney stones. Majority (about 80%) of calcium kidney stones are calcium oxalate, and the remainder are mostly calcium phosphate. After you develop a kidney stone, the risk of developing another stone in the next 5 to 7 years is about 50%. When you know you are at this risk, a low calcium diet is not recommended because they can increase oxalate excretion and then you may have not enough calcium in your body. Depending on the type of kidney stone you have, you can monitor your diet to further prevent the development of these stones. You can also determine the composition of your kidney stone by laboratory analysis.
Treatment of recurrent kidney stones involve conservation management (diet management), pharmacological treatment, and following up with your physician after obtaining a kidney stone. Kidney stones are unexpected and sometimes very painful medical issues that should be addressed by a physician. After getting a kidney stone, it's important to monitor your diet and lifestyle in order to prevent the acquisition of another!
References:
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/kidney-stones/symptoms-causes/syc-20355755
