Those who have experienced serious kidney stone pain say that the agony is awful and simply cannot be described. If it is only a small stone (about 5 millimetres in size) it will pass through on its own in a week or two and the pain will go away. But if the stone is larger or there is more than one stones or the pain is too severe then therapy such as shock wave lithotripsy is needed to break the stone in smaller pieces so they can pass out easily. In some cases minor surgery is also required.

One cannot say for sure who will have a stone but the causes generally are totally preventable such as changes in diet, drinking lots of water and avoiding sugary sodas.

Factors that increase your risk of developing kidney stones include:

Go easy on sugar, salt and protein and drink lots of water to prevent kidney stones

Genetics: Family history is believed to increase your risk of kidney stones. That is to say, if someone in your family has kidney stones, you’re more likely to develop stones. Besides that, if you’ve already had a kidney stone, your chances of developing another increases.

Dehydration: Doctors say that more people suffer from kidney stones in summers, especially those who live in warm climates and sweat a lot. The more you sweat, the less you urinate, especially if you are not drinking enough water. Lack of water increases the risk of stones. With not enough water to dilute the uric acid in the urine, the pH level in the kidney drops making it more acidic, which leads to the formation of kidney stones.

Increasing fluid intake is important for preventing the formation of stones. Doctors recommend drinking eight to 12 glasses of water a day, especially in hot weather; lemonade and other juices that are high in citrate help prevent formation of stones. It is said that citrate in the urine may prevent the calcium from binding with other substances that lead to formation of stone. At the same time doctors warn against the use of sugary sodas, as these can contribute to stone formation, and advise avoiding very sugary food.

Diet: If your diet has high levels of protein, sodium and sugar but is low in calcium you may be at increased risk of some types of kidney stones. What happens is that too much sodium in your diet increases the amount of calcium that your kidneys must filter and significantly increases your risk of having kidney stones.

Doctors recommend eating lots of fruits and vegetables and consuming a moderate amount of dietary calcium (too much or too little can contribute to stone formation) limiting meat consumption to 10 to 12 ounces a day and in some cases avoiding food with high levels of oxalate, such as spinach.

Being obese: A sedentary lifestyle, obesity, high body mass index (BMI), large waist size and weight gain also puts you at increased risk of having kidney stones. High blood pressure and conditions that affect the absorption of calcium in the body also increases the risk.

Medical conditions: If you have had gastric bypass surgery, or suffer from inflammatory bowel disease or chronic diarrhoea, you have greater risk of kidney stones as these conditions can cause changes in the digestive process that affect your absorption of calcium and water, increasing in your urine the levels of substances that form stones.

Kidney stones are also associated with cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, as well as renal tubular acidosis, cystinuria, hyperparathyroidism, certain medications and some urinary tract infections.

Medication: Certain medications can increase the risk of developing kidney stones. Scientists believe that certain drugs that are commonly prescribed to treat seizures and migraine can increase the tendency of calcium phosphate (type) kidney stone.

It also has been suggested that addition of fluoride to drinking water is responsible for some cases of kidney stones.

Scientists have discovered some association between calcium and vitamin D supplements and increased the risk of developing kidney stones, because they raise the level of calcium in the blood and urine. They recommend not exceeding the guidelines for these supplements of 800 international units of vitamin D and 800-1,200 mg of calcium per day.

Though it is not clear which of the two supplements is at fault, it is possible that long-term use of supplements cause hypercalciuria and hypercalcaemia which in turn leads to the formation of kidney stones. Those who are taking these supplements on a long-term basis should consult their doctor and have their blood and urine levels monitored.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, July 5th, 2015

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