Effective Means Of Preventing Kidney Stones

A health article fromYour Health Online the A to Z directory of dealing with Health Problems & nutritional Self Care Strategies


What Are Kidney Stones?
Kidney stones are probably the most common complication among people when it comes to their kidney, uterer, and bladder. This is because many people are prone to it because of unhealthy diet and laid back living—with minimal physical movements at all.

Experts say 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.

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 don’t 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.

Knowledge is power

To avoid further complications when it comes to kidney stones, it is best that you arm yourself with all the knowledge that you can get—especially 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. It most cases, kidney stones can be very tiny when they initially form but can grow, as it remains undiagnosed. From a stone that can be compared to the size of grain, kidney stones can grow in size up to a quarter inch or even larger.

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 uterer—the tube that connects to the bladder—it is a very big problem. This is because the stone—regardless of its size—can 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. The pressure caused by this stretching can build up and can even result to other related symptoms such as blood in the urine or hematuria, nausea, vomiting, and slight fever or chills especially if there’s already an infection.

The next piece of information 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 can you prevent kidney stones?

Urolithiasis, commonly known as kidney stones develop in a person’s body when there is a collection of materials—such as minerals—to a small stone. These stones are commonly found in the kidney, but there are also those that stay in the ureter or in the bladder. Also called “nephrolithiasis,” by physicians, kidney stones can cause a great deal of pain to an individual when it blocks the urine flow. When this is not diagnosed and given proper treatment as soon as possible, it can lead to a several kidney problems that can last for a long time.

Indeed, one of the most effectiveness means of treating kidney stones is through prevention. Unlike severe diseases and illnesses, kidney stones can easily be prevented if the person will set his or her mind into healthy lifestyle.

Studies show that among the primary causes of kidney stones—aside from clinical history, hereditary factor, and medical condition of a person—is unhealthy. This is by living a sedentary life with no regular physical exercise or routine and by eating foods that are not friendly to the kidney.

In order to prevent kidney stones, here are some of the things that people can do once they set their minds into it:

1. Taking in lots of fluid, specifically water. Experts agree that the best way to prevent kidney stones is by flushing it out from the system. And what’s the best way to do it? By drinking a large amount of liquids, especially water which is free from major impurities. Taking in lots of water everyday—at least 8 glasses or more—will flush out waste products in the body and can help dilute the minerals or other stone-forming materials such as salts present in the person’s urine.

For those who are already suffering from kidney stones or those that are prone to it, experts say that they should avoid drinking liquids with other components such as sodas and other juices to avoid the fast formation of kidney stones.

2. Certain modifications in diet. Undeniably, diet plays a huge role in maintaining good health. Keeping the body free from kidney stones will greatly depend on how balanced the diet of that person would be. Majority of kidney stone-sufferers today share the same type of stone—the calcium oxalate stone.

As the name suggests, this type of stone can only be developed with too many calcium intakes. Experts say that for people to veer away from kidney stones, they should cut down on foods that are high in calcium and oxalate such as dairy products including leafy vegetables, soda-colas, cranberries, chocolates, and peanuts.

These foods—if cannot be totally slashed out from the diet—should be consumed in moderation because these would only make the formation of kidney stones faster. To avoid another type of stone—the uric acid stone—people should cut down on foods that have high animal protein content such as poultry and red wine because these have high purines content.

To avoid developing stones made of salts, people should also avoid meals that have high sodium content. People should focus on eating foods that are high in fiber and should also increase their citric acid or vitamin C intake. By doing this, you can your kidney stones would be dissolved in no time due to the citric properties of citrus.

3. Taking in proper medication. In severe cases of kidney stones, proper medication would help such as thiazide, sodium cellulose phosphate, oral calcium supplement, allopurinol, polycitra K, thiol, D-penicil-lamine, Acetohy-droxamic acid or AHA, and toradol to help relieve kidney pain and reduce the amount of stone-forming materials in the body.



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