Preventing and Treating Kidney Stones

Ten percent of Americans will experience the pain of a kidney stone at some point in their lives—and kidney stones are more common in men, accounting for about four out of five cases. If you've suffered from a kidney stone, you know that there is not much that can rival the pain, but treatment is available for people with kidney stones, and you may even be able to prevent some of them.

When 21-year-old Richard Decoudo suffered from a kidney stone, he says it felt like someone was stabbing him in the stomach. "I couldn't move … that's how bad it was. All I could do was lay down and curl up and just yell."

In addition to the severe pain, kidney stones can cause blood in the urine, chills, vomiting, and fever. It's the most common disorder of the urinary tract and mostly affects men between the ages of 20 and 40. Dr. Karim Hamawy, a urologist at Lahey Clinic, explains, "What stones are … are usually crystals that come together in urine in a variety of scenarios. Usually, the situation is a scenario where there is lack of fluid."

There are four types of kidney stones:

* Calcium
* Struvite
* Uric Acid
* Cystine

In this country, the most common are calcium stones. According to Dr. Hamawy, "There have been a lot of studies looking at what is the causative factor for calcium stones … and when you look at all of those studies, the biggest factor is lack of fluid."

Those prone to kidney stones are encouraged to drink up—12-16 cups of water a day. The old advice to avoid foods that contain calcium no longer applies. The recommendation nowadays is that one needs a certain amount of calcium in one's diet to prevent other types of stones from forming.

Your doctor may tell you to cut back on salt if you have kidney stones. That's because a high salt intake can increase the amount of calcium in your urine, which can form some kinds of stones.

There are some foods that some kidney stone patients should limit, such as:

* Beer
* Tea
* Cocoa
* Chocolate
* Nuts
* Spinach
* Berries

As in Richard's case, most stones pass on their own, but treatment sometimes involves minimally invasive surgery or lithotripsy, which uses high energy shock waves to break stones down. Dr. Hamawy says, "Nowadays, the lithotriptors are smaller, more compact. They either use conventional plain x-ray, called fluoroscopy, or ultrasound depending on the type of stone that needs to be visualized … and patients can be done under intravenous sedation. So they are awake for the procedure, they are relatively comfortable, and can go home the same day very quickly without some of the side effects of general anesthesia."

Richard hopes to avoid the excruciating pain of another kidney stones, so he's following his doctor's advice—modifying his diet and drinking plenty of water—and he's telling his story so that others may be able to avoid the pain of kidney stones, as well.

For more information about kidney stones, contact the National Kidney Foundation.

From: http://www.accenthealth.com/features/200503/