Millions of people around the world deal with agonizing pain caused by different types of health ailments. One of these health ailments liable to cause excruciating pain is kidney stones. This condition affects 1-15% of the global population. Kidney stones are not just sources for acute pain, but can also cause long term illnesses like a case of urinary tract infection, kidney damage, and even a decrease in kidney function. This article will be focused on discussing what kidney stones are, its symptoms and what causes them.
What Are Kidney Stones?
Did you know that kidney stones are made of crystals? Well, not the actual crystals used in making jewelry. Kidney stones are solid lumps made of crystals. These crystals are made of certain chemicals found in the urine like calcium and oxalate. These chemicals build up and stick together, forming hard deposits.
How this works is through a process called crystallization. When there are too many of these stone-forming substances like calcium and oxalate in the urine, tiny crystals start to develop. In the case of kidney stones, these crystals tend to grow bigger when there is an absence of substances that prevent this stone formation, like citrate.
Types of Kidney Stones
There are types of kidney stones, one being more popular than the rest, and another which is pretty rare.
Calcium Oxalate Stones: These types of stones are the most common. They form when calcium combines with oxalate in your urine. There are foods that have a lot of oxalate like spinach and nuts. But the body can also produce oxalate naturally, through metabolic processes.
Uric Acid Stones: These stones form when the urine is too acidic. Acidic urine can arise from eating a lot of protein, and people with gout are more likely to get these types of stones.
Struvite Stones: Struvite stones usually form because of certain urinary tract infections types, which can grow really fast and become quite large. Women are more likely to get these because they have more urinary infections.
Cystine Stones: This type of kidney stone is rare and happens to people with a genetic disorder called cystinuria, which causes too much cystine, an amino acid, to be in the urine. This can lead to crystal and stone formation.
Symptoms of Kidney Stones
- Severe pain in your back or side
- Blood in your urine (it looks pink or red)
- Needing to pee often
- Pain when you pee
- Feeling sick or throwing up
- Cloudy or smelly urine
- Fever and chills (if there’s an infection)
Causes of Kidney Stones
Not Drinking Enough Water: Have you ever noticed a concentrated urine when you pee sometimes? That’s as a result of dehydration. When you don’t take enough water your urine becomes concentrated. Your body wouldn’t have enough liquids to dissolve minerals in the body, and when that happens, the bulk of the minerals starts to crystallize.
Eating Certain Foods: There are some foods that have the tendency of increasing your chances of kidney stones. That’s because some of these foods contain stone-forming substances like oxalate. You can find oxalate in foods like spinach, nuts, chocolate etc., which can contribute to stone formation if you eat them in very large quantities.
Just like foods contain oxalate, some foods can contain calcium which is another stone-forming substance. Salt can cause the body to release more calcium in the urine, which can lead to kidney stones.
Medical Conditions: Medical conditions like gout, diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease etc., can make you more likely to get kidney stones. That’s because some of these conditions mess with how the body absorbs nutrients, and how high the uric acid levels are.
Family History: Kidney stones can be common in families. So if this condition is common in your family, you might be at a higher risk too. It basically has to do with the role of genetics and how it affects the way the body handles substances that lead to stone formation.
Being Overweight: Being overweight can affect the balance of the chemicals in your urine. Extra weight can affect chemical balance in different ways like increasing the calcium content in the body, changing the pH level in the urine and so on.
Certain Medications: Some medications can make you more prone to kidney stones, like diuretics, calcium-based antacids. This is because of the amount of calcium they give to the body, contributing to stone formation.
Bottom Line
Millions of people worldwide suffer from the intense pain caused by kidney stones, which affect 1-15% of the global population. These stones not only cause acute discomfort but can also lead to long-term issues like urinary tract infections, kidney damage, and decreased kidney function.
