People who have these 5 habits are very likely to be targeted by kidney stones! Many people have been "hit" by the first type...

Stones are a very strange existence in the human body. They are the product of abnormal mineralization of inorganic salts, organic matter and other substances in the human body. Many organs in the human body can produce stones. Common stones include gallstones, dental stones, kidney stones, etc. Among them, kidney stones are a type of stone that jumps around when there are no symptoms, but is extremely painful when there are symptoms.

How are kidney stones formed?

To understand what kidney stones are, you first need to know how the kidneys work.

The kidney is an organ that produces urine. The water we drink and the water in the food we eat enter the blood after being absorbed by the digestive system. As the blood circulates throughout the body, some of this water turns into sweat and tears and is excreted, while others carry waste produced by the body to the kidney. After being filtered by the kidney, the nutrients needed by the body will be absorbed again, and the waste that is really useless will form urine and finally be excreted through the urethra. If these wastes are not excreted, but accumulate in the kidneys, they will form stones.

An 8 mm kidney stone. Image source: Wikipedia

So, simply put, kidney stones are caused by excessive concentrations of certain substances in urine, such as minerals, oxalic acid, and uric acid, which form crystals. When these crystals continue to aggregate and grow, they form stones. Small stones are as big as grains of sand, and large stones can even be as big as a tennis ball.

How painful is a kidney stone attack?

A famous actor once described a kidney stone attack: his face turned pale, his body felt like a sieve, he knelt on the ground smoking, and began to think about what to write in his will.

Image source: pixabay

Look at the size of the stone : Small kidney stones, such as those less than 1 cm in diameter, may not necessarily cause pain.

Look at the location of the stones : If the kidney stones grow in the renal calyx or renal pelvis, there will be no obvious symptoms.

Only when the stones grow bigger or move in position will they irritate the renal mucosa, or move to the renal pelvis or ureter and cause obstruction, which will lead to symptoms of low back pain. This pain can also affect the flank abdomen, perineum and other parts, and the pain can be very severe.

For larger stones, they are not easily displaced and may grow until they fill the renal calyces and renal pelvis without causing any symptoms. However, if they occur one day, the person will experience excruciating pain.

In addition to pain, kidney stones can also cause symptoms such as frequent urination, urgent urination, and blood in the urine. You may also see sand or small stones being excreted with the urine. During urination, you may also feel blocked urine flow and stinging pain in the urethra. The most serious kidney stones may cause hydronephrosis due to urethral blockage, or renal impairment due to damage to the urinary tract mucosa, eventually leading to uremia and the need to remove the kidney.

What causes kidney stones?

1

Inadequate water intake

If you don't like to drink water or often forget to drink water, your water intake will be insufficient, your urine will decrease, and the crystals in your urine will easily settle and eventually form stones. Drinking enough water can produce enough urine to flush away the tiny crystals.

Image source: pixabay

2

Beverages instead of water

Beverages contain high levels of calcium oxalate and phosphate, which are the most common components of kidney stones. In addition, beer has a rapid diuretic effect, which can easily cause dehydration in a short period of time. Therefore, people who love to drink beverages and beer but drink less water are more likely to get kidney stones. It is recommended to drink less beverages and beer and just drink water.

3

Eating too salty or sweet food

Eating too much salt will cause the body to excrete more calcium, which will easily form kidney stones when it meets oxalic acid and uric acid. For adults, it is best to control the daily salt intake within 5 grams per person, and eat less ham, sausage, pickles, fermented bean curd and other foods with high salt content. Sugar will also increase the excretion of calcium, so it is also easy to cause stones. It is best for adults to control the daily intake of added sugar within 25 grams per person.

4

Excessive intake of high-fat and high-protein foods

Fat will reduce the amount of calcium that can be combined in the intestines, leading to increased absorption of oxalate and the formation of stones. The daily intake of edible oil for adults should be controlled within 25 grams. If you eat greasy food, remember to drink plenty of water.

In addition, high-protein foods may also cause kidney stones, so you should also pay attention to the way you eat them.

Speaking of high-protein foods, we must give tofu a proper name. Some people believe that tofu is made from soybeans, which contain purine, calcium and oxalic acid, which are easy to become stones, so they think that eating tofu will cause stones. But in fact, the oxalic acid content of tofu processed from soybeans is already very low. Not only that, the calcium in tofu can also help reduce the risk of stones. Therefore, you can still eat tofu with confidence.

5

Eating too much food containing oxalate

Most kidney stones are calcium stones, such as calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, etc. Foods such as tea, spinach, beans, potatoes, celery, bamboo shoots, tomatoes, oranges, plums, grapes, etc. have high oxalic acid content and are prone to cause stones. When eating, you should pay attention to the method and amount of consumption.

In addition to the above dietary factors, some diseases, such as hyperthyroidism, diabetes, hypertension, gout, etc., may also cause kidney stones. Friends with these diseases should pay more attention.

People with a family history of the disease and some people in special occupations, such as assembly line workers and drivers, are also prone to kidney stones because they sit for long periods of time at work and it is inconvenient for them to urinate, and they deliberately reduce their water intake.

In short, in order to avoid kidney stones, we must develop good living habits in daily life, drink plenty of water, eat a light diet, and keep exercising.

Planning and production

This article is a work of Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project

Produced by: Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology

Producer｜China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.

Author: Lin Xiao Popular Science Creator

Reviewer: Tang Qin, Director and Researcher of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association

Planning丨Fu Sijia

Editor: Fu Sijia