Kidney stones, symptoms of an ancient disease

People who have had attacks of nephrolithiasis say that the excruciating pain they were experiencing was comparable to childbirth. Every year more than 300 000 patients with kidney stones are hospitalized in the USA alone.

According to some, this is a problem of our time, associated with an incorrect lifestyle and malnutrition. However, even in ancient times, people suffered from kidney stones, the symptoms of this ancient disease have been described for a long time and even in Egyptian mummies archeologists find kidney stones.

Why is the formation of stones?

This is due to the fact that minerals that must be excreted from the body together with urine in a dissolved form, accumulate in the kidneys and grow.

These formations are different in form and in chemical composition. In some cases, even the so-called coral stones in the kidneys are formed. Such stones represent a kind of impression of the calyx cavity of the kidney and are difficult to treat. Most stones consist of calcium oxalate, and only 5% of calcium phosphate.

What is the cause of the spread of this disease?

Throughout life up to 5% of women and 10% of men can get kidney stones, the symptoms of a recurrence of disease can later appear in one of the five people who suffered from this ailment.

Doctors can not explain why some people have kidney stones, the symptoms, whose treatment requires a lot of effort, while other people do not get sick. Here are the possible causes of the disease:

• Disturbance in the body of the metabolic process.

• Infections.

• Chronic dehydration

• Hereditary defects.

• Incorrect food.

Up to 80% of all stones with urination go out on their own. In this case, the patient feels unbearable pain, despite the fact that the stones are relatively small and sometimes barely discernible. To facilitate their withdrawal, doctors advise to use as much fluid as possible.

However, there are cases when a large stone (sometimes even as a golf ball), unable to pass through the urinary ducts, or impaired conduction in the urinary passage itself. In these cases, the patient needs urgent medical attention.

Prevention of disease

The most important advice is to drink plenty of water! Then the risk of "earning" kidney stones is reduced, the symptoms of the already existing disease will be greatly mitigated, and this ailment will not bring so much suffering. Water should be used abundantly, because more than 2 liters of urine per day should be excreted from the body.

How should you eat? Reduce the intake of meat, salt and foods rich in oxalates that promote the formation of kidney stones: chocolate, nuts, black pepper, green leafy vegetables, such as spinach.

According to recent studies, an increase in calcium in the daily diet prevents the formation of stones, does not contribute, as was thought before.

Treatment

If, despite all the precautions, nevertheless kidney stones were formed, the symptoms can and should be eased. This requires serious treatment. In the past there was only one surgical method of treatment - an extensive operation, after which the patient could not return to normal life for a long time.

Currently, there are two common methods for removing stuck stones:

1. Method of minimal surgical intervention. With this method, the doctor makes a cut in the side with a size of only 1 cm, into which the probe is inserted. Through the ultrasonic generator, a vibration of up to 25 thousand vibrations per second will be created to break up the stones. At the same time, the fragments are continuously sucked through the probe. So the kidney is cleaned of stones and debris until special equipment finds that everything is clean.

2. ESWL method - the so-called extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy. This method generally does not involve any cuts on the body. The patient is placed in a stainless steel vessel half filled with warm water. It is neatly positioned in such a position that the kidney is facing the center of the shock waves produced by the underwater spark discharge. Waves freely pass through a soft human tissue and reach the stone without losing its energy. They continue to bombard the stone until they crush it. In most patients, the crushed stone leaves easily.

Today, with the development of technologies, the surgical method is used extremely rarely, and this is an encouraging information for millions of patients.