| 1888 Articles Home | Health Articles | Medicine Articles | Medicine RSS |  |
||
What is a Kidney Stone? |
||||
|
Informative article on kidney stones. |
||||||||||||
| Author: Maria Hagans |
|
|||||||||||
Kidney stones are caused due to different type of minerals and acids and so they have different name too. Nephrolithiasis and urolithiasis respectively mean kidney stones and urinary stones in medical terms.
Symptoms of Kidney Stone
All the symptoms of kidney stones start suddenly in the form of cramps, which are excruciating, in the abdomen, lower back and groin. This pain starts all of a sudden and will not subside at all. The pain due to stones maybe so severe that it causes vomiting and nausea. You would sometimes even notice slight tinges of blood in the urine. Fever with chills is a symptom, which means that the stones are accompanied by an infection in the urinary tract.
Causes of Kidney Stone
If it is caused by the excessive excretion of amino acids, it is a hereditary disorder. Generally, stones are formed when the volume of urine passed daily reduces a lot or if calcium is flushed out into the urinary system.
Calcium combined with oxalate forms stones. Calcium, phosphate, uric acid and amino acid are some chemicals which come together to cause stones in the kidney. Researchers have found that this is more common in men than in women. Another research showed that whites are more prone to renal calculi than Africans or African Americans.
An infected urinary tract too causes stones and they are known as struvite or infection stones. Dehydration reduces the water in body and thus reduces the water flowing through the kidneys too. This leads to formation of stones. If there is a block in the urinary tract too, it can give rise to renal calculi.
Stones can be caused by medication taken also. Some medicines used for the treatment of AIDS like Crixivan, which is a protease inhibitor, cause stones. Calcium containing antacids and diuretics are also contributors to this disorder.
Diseases like inflammatory bowel disease and those who have had an intestinal bypass are likely to get stones too. At the same time people suffering from kidney stones are likely to get other diseases like renal tubular acidosis, cystinuria, and hyperoxaluria.
Hypercalciuria which means high calcium in the urine is caused by taking too much off calcium rich food. The calcium combines with either oxalate or phosphate to form stones. Excess calcium is flushed into the urine where it turns hard and forms stones. Excess of uric acid in the urine causes gout or what is known as uric acid stones.
Treatments for Kidney Cure
The best and natural cure for kidney stones is to drink plenty of water. Three liters of water is good enough to wash off all the kidney stones forming chemicals and minerals. Smaller stones are washed out of the body within 48 hours. Pain killers maybe prescribed by your doctor to help reduce the cramps. Stones which are 4mm or smaller in diameter have a better chance of coming out in the urine itself. The rest of the stones may have to be removed via lithotripsy. In this procedure, shock waves are used to break a big stone into smaller bits so that it can pass through the urinary tract with ease.
Some surgeries can be performed to get rid of the stones too. Ureteroscope is an instrument which is passed via the bladder to remove stones. Another method is to make a small incision and remove the stone. All said and done, the best cure is to visit a doctor and drink plenty of water.
About Author
More information on kidney stones treatent is available here:
http://www.symptoms-kidney-stones-treatments.com/
www.symptoms-kidney-stones-treatments.com/kidney-stone-treatment.html
Article Source:
http://www.1888articles.com
Other Related Articles Personal cash loans: coping with urgent expenses by Angela Alderton What is a Kidney Stone? by Maria Hagans Poor credit loans: bad credit borrowers can make choice too by AntonGabriel Personal Debt Consolidation Loans Haste to Excavate Debt Podgy by Alex Jonnes |
