Signs of having developed a kidney stone

It’s unlikely that you'll experience symptoms or see signs of having developed a kidney stone unless the kidney stone is large enough to cause a blockage, is passing or is responsible for a urinary tract infection.

If you’ve developed a kidney stone (renal lithiasis) that’s large enough to fall into the latter category, you may find yourself suffering from a sudden onset of a severe cramping pain in your lower back—below the edge of your ribcage, your groin, side, or abdomen. This pain is often so severe that it is not unheard of for it to be accompanied by nausea or vomiting and be further characterized by the fact that changing your body position will fail to relieve it. All four types of kidney stones (calcium, struvite, uric acid and cystine) may also cause blood to appear in your urine. If a urinary tract infection develops as a result of a stone, you may also experience a fever and chills.

However, any number of medical conditions other than kidney stones can cause symptoms similar to those listed above. So, your doctor or urologist will need to ask you a few questions to determine the precise nature of your pain and get a picture of your lifestyle. Your doctor will also need to perform a physical exam and may order X-rays or other imaging tests to get a better look at your kidneys or urinary tract.

If it turns out that you’ve developed more than one kidney stone or if you have a family history of kidney stones, additional testing may be called for. To find out which type of kidney stone you’ve developed--calcium, struvite, cystine, etc., your doctor may order blood tests and or ask that you collect your urine for a 24-hour period. Both tests will help your doctor determine the chance you’ll develop stones in the future.

Source: parkaveurology.com

Why do kidney stones occur more and more in young people?

There's a surprising and growing incidence of kidney stones in children. Kidney stones are comprised of minerals and acid salts that should be diluted in the urine. But when urine is too concentrated, these materials can crystallize and solidify, forming kidney stones. Passing these objects can be absolutely excruciating. The pain typically starts in the side or back below the ribs and then radiates to the lower abdomen and groin area.
Sometimes they don't pass by themselves and doctors use lithotripsy (high-energy shock waves) to fragment and disintegrate kidney stones. According to the Mayo Clinic web site, kidney stones are typically found most often in males between the ages of 20 and 70 -- with middle-aged men being at the highest risk, but the growing incidence of kidney stones in children is linked to the modern diet and lifestyle.
Bottom line: kids are growing up drinking too little water and too many sugar-filled drinks. In addition, youngsters who eat a fast-food diet are taking in high amounts of sodium -- and that's a well-known risk factor for the formation of kidney stones.
The sedentary lifestyle we're starting to see in the younger age group and the pediatric group is also a risk factor because we know that obesity increases the risk of forming kidney stones.

The main takeaway is to get your child to stay away from sugar filled drinks, sodas, colas and go to something natural like plain old water.

Source: naturalnews.com

Kidney stones: food that helps

People who naturally carry a probiotic bacteria called Oxalobacter formigenes are 70 percent less likely to develop kidney stones than people whose dietary tracts lack the bacteria, according to a study conducted by researchers from Boston University and published in the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology.

Researchers compared 247 people who suffered from recurring calcium oxalate kidney stones with 259 people with no history of kidney stones. They found that while 38 percent of the people in the healthy group had O. formigenes in their intestines, only 17 percent of people in the kidney stone group did.

"Our findings are of potential clinical importance," researcher David Kaufman said. "The possibility of using the bacterium as a probiotic is currently in the early stages of investigation."

Source: naturalnews.com

Kidney stone more often occurred in children

When you think of kidney stones children are not what first fall in mind. But doctors say that the number of children with this painful condition is increasing and this could represent one of the more ominous consequences of the epidemic of obesity.

However, experts say they are confident that there are more and more children with kidney stones, despite numbers.

Hope for kidney stone - Probiotic

Doctors have encountered bacteria that could be used as a mean against kidney stones.

To treat patients with bacteria could be an effective way of reducing the risk of often developing painful kidney stones, a study claims.


People who naturally in the body contain the bacterium Oxalobacter formigen have 70% less chance to develop a stone.
Experts from the University of Boston in the United States explore the possibility of using bacteria as "probiotic" treatment. Kidney stone is a hard lump of waste constituents who exist in urine. Otherwise, it may be the size of grains of sand and the size of pearls. Surface can be smooth or jagged and are usually yellow or brown.

Once a kidney stone is formed, it can travel through other parts of the urinary system which can slow the flow of urine, cause infection, severe pain and even kidney failure.

They occurred mostly in persons between the ages of 20 to 40. 80% of kidney stones are composed of substances called calcium oxalate.

Testing phase

Oxalobacter formigen destroys oxalate in the intestinal system and is present in large numbers at the adult population.


The team from Boston compared 247 patients containing a kidney stone of the recurrence of calcium oxalates to 259 patients with no history of this condition.
It was discovered that only 17% of people with stone was colonized with Oxalobacter formigenom compared to 38% of healthy patients.
- Our results are potentially clinically important - said Professor David Kaufman, and conclude - The ability to use bacteria as a probiotic is still in the testing phase.

Too much Coca Cole can damage the kidneys

Even if we talk about light variations of cola, over-consuming coca Cole may affect the kidneys. According to a U.S. study published in the journal Epidemiology consuming daily amounts of too much coca Cole increases the risk of chronic kidney diseases, and improves the makings of kidney stones. It is already known that consuming carbonated drinks in large quantities, or potions that are fattening, can cause diabetes. When it comes to coca cola, we are starting to talk about kidney injuries which support the opinion that it contained ingredients more harmful than soda. Attention is therefore transferred to the phosphoric acid, which in large quantities is in the drinks and generally is associated with the emergence of kidney stones.

Scientists with the National Institute of Health compare the food habits of 465 respondents with chronic kidney diseases with the habits of 465 healthy subjects. Bearing in mind the different risk factors of each, scientists have come to the conclusion that drinking two or more cans of coca Cole a day, even in the light version, doubles the risk of chronic kidney diseases. For deeper understanding the role of phosphor acid it will be need to do further research, but for now it is known that it affects the extraction of calcium from bones, increasing the risk of kidney stones and other causes of chronic diseases such as reduction of kidney function.

Milk and kidney stones

You may have heard somewhere that milk helps in the development of kidney stones. However, it is a myth, and scientific research does not confirm that correlation. In fact, the milk reduces the risk of stones! Diet with a lot of calcium reduces absorption of oxalates, substances present in some types of vegetables (spinach), but also in other food (tea and chocolate). Oxalates bounds with calcium and the calcium-oxalates are formed, that makes kidney stone.