Kidney Stone Causes, Symptoms, Treatments, & Prevention

Usually, your kidneys remove waste from your blood to make urine (pee). However, when there is too much waste in your blood and your body is not producing enough urine, crystals form in your kidneys. These crystals attract other wastes and chemicals to create a solid object (a kidney stone) that will get larger unless passed out of your body in your urine.

What are the causes and risk factors of kidney stones?

Anyone can get a kidney stone, but some people are more likely than others to have them. For example, men get kidney stones more often than women do. Kidney stones are also more common in non-Hispanic white people than other ethnicities. You may also be more likely to have kidney stones if:

• You have had kidney stones before.
• Someone in your family has had kidney stones.
• You don’t drink enough water.
• You follow a diet high in protein, sodium, or sugar.
• You are overweight or obese.
• You have had gastric bypass surgery or another intestinal surgery.
• You have polycystic kidney disease or another cystic kidney disease.
• You have a specific condition that causes your urine to contain high cystine levels, oxalate, uric acid, or calcium.
• You have a condition that causes swelling or irritation in your bowel or joints.
• You take certain medicines, such as diuretics (water pills) or calcium-based antacids.

How can I prevent kidney stones?

The best way to prevent most kidney stones is to drink enough fluids every day. Most people should drink eight to 12 cups of fluid per day. If you have kidney disease and need to limit fluids, ask your doctor how much fluid you should have each day. Restricting sodium and animal protein (meat, eggs) in your diet may also help to prevent kidney stones. If your doctor can find out what your kidney stone is made of, they may be able to give you specific dietary recommendations to help prevent future kidney stones.

Types of kidney stones

• Calcium stones are the most common type of kidney stones. They are usually made of calcium and oxalate (a natural chemical found in most foods), but are sometimes made of calcium and phosphate.
• Uric acid stones form when your urine is often too acidic. Uric acid can form stones by itself or with calcium.
• Struvite stones can happen when you have certain types of urinary tract infections in which bacteria make ammonia that builds up in your urine. Struvite stones are made of magnesium, ammonium and phosphate.
• Cystine stones are made of a chemical that your body makes naturally, called cystine. Cystine stones are very rare, and happen in people who have a genetic disorder that causes cystine to leak from the kidneys into the urine.

SSB Hospital have a highly qualified team of doctors that are always available to serve the best to their patients. They offer various types of treatment and services such as

• Treatment of Kidney Failure by LifeStyle Changes or Medicines
• Haemodialysis
• Peritoneal Dialysis
• AV FISTULA
• AV GRAFTS
• Tunneled Catheters (Perm Cath)
• Untunneled Dialysis Catheters
• Renal Angiography & Angioplasty
• Critical Care Nephrology
• Plasma Pheresis
• Continuous Ambulatory Peritoneal Dialysis (CAPD)
• Sustained low-efficiency dialysis (SLED)
• Slowing Kidney Failure Progression
• BP Management & Diabetes Control — Reversing Serum
• Creatinine levels thereby slowing diabetic nephrology
• Kidney Biopsy
• Ultra Modern RO Plant

To know more, book an appointment with our best Nephrologist now.