Kidney Stone Disease, Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and How to Prevent

Kidney Stone Disease, Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and How to Prevent.

Kidney Stone Disease, Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, and How to Prevent

Kidney stones are a solid body like a rock that occurs due to the crystallization of secretions of the body or residual substances that occur precipitation. Most often kidney stones are formed by excessive calcium in the body. The presence of stones in the kidneys causes tremendous pain, bleeding in the urine due to infection and even blockage of urinary flow.

Causes of kidney stones.

Many factors can cause kidney stones, but Before discussing about the cause of kidney stones. We must return to the roles and functions of the kidney itself. Because this is closely related. In the urinary system (secretion) the kidneys function to screen the blood.

This filtering serves to balance the body's mineral content. While the body lacks water the kidney water through the blood. The rest is removed through the ureter of the bladder in the form of urine. Likewise with other types of minerals such as calcium, vitamins and other substances. Vitamins are indeed needed by the body, but if too many vitamins must be excreted by the kidneys.

In this case we take the example of calcium. when the calcium level is too high in the body the kidneys will work to remove it through the urine. But if the high levels of calcium lasted continuously then the kidney will experience a decrease in function. So that calcium substance accumulates and settle slowly and formed a solid mass called kidney stones.

In addition to the high levels of calcium in the body, causing kidney stones are also affected by the lack of citrate content is a substance that can inhibit the formation of calcium stones. The formation of stones is also influenced by its high Oxalate content is a substance that affects the formation of stones due to calcium.

The process of formation of kidney stones occurs gradually. This crystallization occurs for a long time. Starting from the small size and continue to grow to cause impaired kidney function. Lack of water intake also affects.

The process of stone formation is called Urolitiasis. In addition to the kidney urolithiasis may occur in the bladder called bladder stones. In addition to calcium, high uric acid levels can also cause kidney stones uric acid. Some of these diseases are also at risk can be factors causing kidney stones such as sarcoidosis disease, hyperparathyroidism, cancer and renal tubular acidosis.

Signs and symptoms of kidney stones

Symptoms that appear vary depending on the size of stone formation in the kidney. Common symptoms that arise include:

  1. The presence of pain in the back or colic pain is great. Colic pain is characterized by the pain that disappears around the ribs and the waist, then spreads to the abdomen and inner thigh area. 
  2. Because the usual severe pain is followed by fever and chills. 
  3. The possibility of nausea and the occurrence of vomiting. And stomach upset. 
  4. The presence of blood in the urine. And the presence of urination disorder patients is also often BAK. Or even the occurrence of blockage in the urinary tract. If this happens then the risk of urinary tract infection becomes greater. 
Those are some signs and symptoms of kidney stone disease. But some cases do not even show any symptoms, especially those on small stones, and vice versa, otherwise there is not necessarily kidney stones, because it could be due to prostate enlargement or narrowing of the urinary tract.

The diagnosis of whether or not the kidney stones can be known through the examination of urine analysis of urine (urinalysis). And with X-ray examination of abdominal area and abdomen.

How to Prevent Kidney Stone Disease

Eating a lot of water 8-10 glasses per day is a simple way to prevent kidney stone disease. But for those of you who have been diagnosed with kidney stones. So special precautions need to be done so as not to the occurrence of the formation of new stone (disease repeatability). Methods and methods of prevention are depended on the composition (level) of stone that had previously suffered.

1. If you have suffered from stones due to excess uric acid levels, then prevention you should do is to reduce the types of foods that contain lots of purines such as sardines, offal, liver, brain, shellfish and other foods high purine because this type of food can increase uric acid levels in the body.

Besides reducing the formation of uric acid can also be done with the provision of allopurinol because uric acid stones are formed if the acidity of urine increases, therefore to create urine alkaline or alkalis can be done by the administration of potassium citrate.

2. Furthermore, in patients with calcium stones. Must do to prevent the formation of new kidney stones. Thiazid diuretic medication such as trichlormetazid, It is advisable to take a low calcium diet and consume sodium cellulose phosphate, and also give potassium citrate to increase citrate levels. Citrate is a useful substance to inhibit the formation of calcium stones.

Then the prevention of kidney stones due to calcium accumulation can also be done by avoiding foods high in oxalate levels. Oxalate is a support substance for the occurrence of stones. Types of foods rich in oxalate such as: Foods from chocolate, spinach, to tea, pepper and types of nuts

Treatment of kidney stone disease.

Therapy treatment is given by the doctor usually by providing certain types of drugs, this is especially for kidney stones are still small and expected the stone can be out through the urine.

However, if this method is not effective, then treatment action is done by ESWL (Extracorporeal Shock Wave Lithotripsy). This method is carried out by using ultrasonic shock wave, waves directed at kidney stones so that the stone breaks into small sizes and then eases through the urine.

The advantages of ESWL method is the absence of injury due to surgery on the patient and the time required is relatively short.

If both methods of treatment of kidney stone above did not work. So the only way to remove the stone through surgery. Surgery is usually performed in cases of kidney stones that have a large size and cannot be destroyed by shock waves (shock wave)