How common are Kidney Stones?

Each year, more than half a million people go to emergency rooms for kidney stone problems. It is projected that one in ten people will have a kidney stone at some point in their lives.

• What is a kidney stone?

A kidney stone is a solid object that is made from chemicals in the urine. There are four types of Kidney Stones: calcium oxalate, uric acid, struvite, and cystine. A kidney stone may be cured with shockwave lithotripsy, uteroscopy, percutaneous nephrolithomy or nephrolithotripsy. Common symptoms include severe pain in lower back, blood in your urine, nausea, vomiting, fever and chills, or urine that smells bad or looks cloudy. Urine has various wastes dissolved in it. When there is too much waste in too little liquid, crystals begin to form. The crystals attract other elements and join together to form a stone that will get larger unless it is passed out of the body with the urine. Usually, these chemicals are eliminated in the urine by the body's master chemist: the kidney. In most people, having enough liquid washes them out or other chemicals in urine stop a stone from forming. The stone-forming chemicals are calcium, oxalate, urate, cystine, xanthine, and phosphate. After it is formed, the stone may stay in the kidney or travel down the urinary tract into the ureter. Sometimes, tiny stones move out of the body in the urine without causing too much pain. But stones that don't move may cause a back-up of urine in the kidney, ureter, the bladder, or the urethra. This is what causes the pain.

• Symptoms of Kidney Stones

Some Kidney Stones are as small as a grain of sand. Others are as large as a pebble. A few are as large as a golf ball! As a general rule, the bigger the stone, the more obvious are the symptoms. The symptoms could be one or more of the following:

The symptoms could be one or more of the following:

severe pain on either side of your lower back

more vague pain or stomach ache that doesn't go away

blood in the urine

nausea or vomiting

fever and chills

urine that smells bad or looks cloudy

The kidney stone starts to hurt when it causes irritation or blockage. This builds rapidly to extreme pain. In most cases, Kidney Stones pass without causing damage-but usually not without causing a lot of pain. Pain relievers may be the only treatment needed for small stones. Other treatment may be needed, especially for those stones that cause lasting symptoms or other complications. In severe cases, however, surgery may be required.

•Causes of Kidney Stones

Possible causes include drinking too little water, exercise (too much or too little), obesity, weight loss surgery, or eating food with too much salt or sugar. Infections and family history might be important in some people. Eating too much fructose correlates with increasing risk of developing a kidney stone. Fructose can be found in table sugar and high fructose corn syrup.

• Diagnosis of Kidney Stones

Diagnosis of a kidney stone starts with your medical history, aphysical examination, and imaging tests. Your doctors will want to know the exact size and shape of the Kidney Stones. This can be done with a high-resolution CT scan from the kidneys down to the bladder or an x-ray called a "KUB x-ray'' (kidney-ureter-bladder x-ray) which will show the size of the stone and its position. The KUB x-ray is often obtained by the surgeons to determine if the stone is suitable for shock wave treatment. The KUB test may be used to monitor your stone before and after treatment, but the CT scan is usually preferred for diagnosis. In some people, doctors will also order an intravenous pyelogram or lVP, a special type of X- ray of the urinary system that is taken after injecting a dye. Then, It will be decided how to treat your stone. The health of your kidneys will be evaluated by blood tests and urine tests. Your overall health, and the size and location of your stone will be considered. Later, your doctor will want to find the cause of the stone. The stone will be analysed after it comes out of your body, and your doctor will test your blood for calcium, phosphorus and uric acid. The doctor may also ask that you collect your urine for 24 hours to test for calcium and uric acid. Dr. Supriya Darekar explains that this is a problem that arises from not drinking enough water. "I mean water, not drinks of some kind. Not drinking enough water leads to urinary tract infections (UTIs) and Kidney Stones. "The occurrence of UTI is increasing, all because people are not drinking enough water," she said. Darekar Hospital has a team of experts urologists in Pune

• Causes of Kidney Stones

Diagnosis of a kidney stone starts with your medical history, aphysical examination, and imaging tests. Your doctors will want to know the exact size and shape of the Kidney Stones. This can be done with a high-resolution CT scan from the kidneys down to the bladder or an x-ray called a "KUB x-ray'' (kidney-ureter-bladder x-ray) which will show the size of the stone and its position. The KUB x-ray is often obtained by the surgeons to determine if the stone is suitable for shock wave treatment. The KUB test may be used to monitor your stone before and after treatment, but the CT scan is usually preferred for diagnosis. In some people, doctors will also order an intravenous pyelogram or lVP, a special type of X- ray of the urinary system that is taken after injecting a dye. Then, It will be decided how to treat your stone. The health of your kidneys will be evaluated by blood tests and urine tests. Your overall health, and the size and location of your stone will be considered. Later, your doctor will want to find the cause of the stone. The stone will be analysed after it comes out of your body, and your doctor will test your blood for calcium, phosphorus and uric acid. The doctor may also ask that you collect your urine for 24 hours to test for calcium and uric acid. Dr. Supriya Darekar explains that this is a problem that arises from not drinking enough water. "I mean water, not drinks of some kind. Not drinking enough water leads to urinary tract infections (UTIs) and Kidney Stones. "The occurrence of UTI is increasing, all because people are not drinking enough water," she said. Darekar Hospital has a team of experts Urologists in Pune.

• Treatment for Kidney Stones

The treatment for Kidney Stones is similar in children and adults. You may be asked to drink a lot of water. Doctors try to let the stone pass without surgery. You may also get medication to help make your urine less acid. But if it is too large, or if it blocks the flow of urine, or if there is a sign of infection, it is removed with surgery. Shock-wave lithotripsy is a non-invasive procedure that uses high-energy sound waves to blast the stones into fragments that are then more easily passed out in the urine. In ureteroscopy, an endoscope is inserted through the ureter to retrieve or obliterate the stone. Rarely, for very large or complicated stones, doctors will use percutaneous nephrolithotomy/nephrolithotripsy.

Today, the scope of urology has expanded, and doctors can diagnose and treat diseases of the urinary tract in men and women. They can also diagnose and treat any perceived problems in the reproductive tracts of men. They can perform surgeries to correct the problem if necessary. This last-mentioned treatment is available with the best Urologists in Pune at Darekar Super Speciality Hospital.