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Are Kidney Stones Worse For Males Or Females

Kidney Stones And Chronic Kidney Disease

Signs And Symptoms Of Kidney Stones In Men And Women

Kidney stones are a formation of hardened minerals in the kidneys or urinary system. In most cases, kidney stones are formed because of a decrease in urine volume or increase in the minerals that form the stones in the urine.

About 1 in every 20 people will have a kidney stone in their lifetime. Three times more men will have kidney stones than women and they are more common in Caucasians. African Americans.

In most cases, kidney stones are formed when there is too little fluid , an overabundance of crystal-forming minerals in the urine, and/or lower-than-normal levels of the chemicals that breakdown these minerals in the urine. The kidney stone will either travel out of the body through the urinary tract or stay in the kidney, bladder or urethra.

Symptoms of kidney stones

You may not know you have a kidney stone unless it causes pain, is large and blocks the flow of urine or is being passed. The most common symptom is severe, fluctuating pain in the lower back or side under the ribs. Other symptoms include:

  • Bloody or cloudy urine that smells bad
  • Nausea and/or vomiting
  • Fever and/or chills
  • Burning, painful sensation when urinating

If you have symptoms, call your doctor. Taking care of kidney stones early can prevent serious complications, such as chronic kidney disease;or, in extreme cases, renal failure;that would require dialysis or a kidney transplant to replace the function of the kidneys.

Types of kidney stones and how they are formed

Treatment for kidney stones

Things That Can Help You Take A Pass On Kidney Stones

  • By Matthew Solan, Executive Editor, Harvard Men’s Health Watch

If youve ever passed a kidney stone, you probably would not wish it on your worst enemy, and youll do anything to avoid it again. “Kidney stones are more common in men than in women, and in about half of people who have had one, kidney stones strike again within 10 to 15 years without preventive measures,” says Dr. Brian Eisner, co-director of the Kidney Stone Program at Harvard-affiliated Massachusetts General Hospital.

What Are The Causes Of Kidney Stones Or How Do Kidney Stones Occur

After your body absorbs the nutrition it needs, the remaining waste products travel through the bloodstream to the kidneys. The waste products get removed from your body through urine. When there is too much of waste and too less liquid in the urine, crystals begin to form which stick together and form solid masses or kidney stones. The reasons of kidney stones forming in the body varies.

There are four main types of kidney stones:

  • Calcium Stones: Calcium stones are the most common form of kidney stones. They are formed when there is too much calcium in the urine. They may form due to an overactive parathyroid gland, an inherited condition called hypercalciuria, kidney disease, some cancers, or a condition called sarcoidosis.
  • Struvite Stones: These are horn-shaped and can grow quite large. They are usually caused by urinary tract infection.
  • Uric Acid Stones: Uric acid stones are softer than other types of kidney stones. They may occur due to a high-protein low-fibre diet. Patients suffering from gout are found to be at a higher risk to get uric acid stones.
  • Cystine Stones: They are caused by a rare hereditary disorder called cystinuria. Cystine stones are larger than other forms of kidney stones and tend to recur.

In about 85% of the cases, small kidney stones pass out in the urine without medical intervention. Stones bigger than 5 mm may require medical intervention. Stones as small as 2 mm have been know to cause discomforting symptoms.

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Kidney Stone Size Chart And Its Features

This is a simple kidney stone size chart that that provides important information about the chances of passing stones naturally, time taken, and treatment required for various sizes of the kidney stones. More types of kidney stone charts can be possible to show different types of information pieces about kidney stones and their sizes.

Size of kidney stones

S For Preventing Kidney Stones

8 Early Warning Symptoms of Kidney Stones

If youve ever had a;kidney stone, you surely remember it. The pain can be unbearable, coming in waves until the tiny stone passes through your urinary plumbing and out of the body. For many, kidney stones arent a one-time thing: in about half of people who have had one, another appears within seven years without preventive measures.

Preventing kidney stones isnt complicated,;but it does take some determination.

Kidney stones form when certain chemicals become concentrated enough in the urine to form crystals. The crystals grow into larger masses , which can make their way through the urinary tract. If the stone gets stuck somewhere and blocks the flow of urine, it causes pain.

Most stones occur;when calcium combines with oxalate. Stones can also form from uric acid, which is a byproduct of protein metabolism.

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Kidney Stones In Women: Symptoms And Treatments

Kidney stones are small yet hard deposits made of mineral and acid salts. These stones don’t usually cause any trouble so long as they stay in your kidney, but you may experience severe pain when these stones move through the tubes of the urinary tract system, which typically includes the urethra or the ureters. Sometimes, the movement of kidney stones in women has no symptoms at all, but even if you feel pain, the stones usually leave no permanent damage. Most women don’t know they have stones in their kidneys until they experience pain. You should look for certain symptoms of kidney stones in women to take appropriate steps in time.

Calcium Is Not The Enemy

A lot of people make the mistake of shying away from calcium-rich foods in an effort to prevent kidney stones.

Given that calcium oxalate stones are the most commonly reported type of renal stones, it is natural for stone formers to have reservations about calcium-rich foods.

Many people attribute calcium as major culprit and avoid taking a sufficient amount of calcium that is required for bone development and strength.

Quite the contrary, a high dietary intake of calcium can actually keep stones from forming by reducing the absorption of oxalates, a common compound present in many foods.

You will also fare better by limiting your sodium intake, which promotes calcium buildup in urine.

Try to get your recommended fill of calcium through food sources rather than supplements.

Your dietitian can stipulate the ideal amount of calcium for your particular age and case.

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Causes Kidney Stones Vs Utis

UTIs occur when bacteria make their way into the urinary tract and begin to multiply, which can lead to symptoms. Women are more likely to develop more UTIs than men because the female urethra is shorter, which means bacteria have a shorter distance to travel to establish an infection. If left untreated, these UTIs can continue to spread upward into the kidneys.

Kidney stones are generally the result of a less severe UTIs progression due to lack of treatment, but they can sometimes occur in other ways as well. When there is not enough water to dilute the uric acid, a component of urine, the urine becomes more acidic. An excessively acidic environment in urine can lead to the formation of kidney stones.

Medication For Kidney Stones

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For most people with recurrent calcium stones, a combination of drinking enough fluids, avoiding urinary infections, and specific treatment with medications will significantly reduce or stop new stone formation.

Certain medications such as thiazide diuretics or indapamide reduce calcium excretion and decrease the chance of another calcium stone. Potassium citrate or citric juices are used to supplement thiazide treatment and are used by themselves for some conditions where the urine is too acidic.

For people who have a high level of uric acid in their urine, or who make uric acid stones, the medication allopurinol will usually stop the formation of new stones.

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What Are The Symptoms Of Kidney Stones How Are Kidney Stones Diagnosed

The common symptoms of kidney stones in men and women include:

  • Foul smelling urine
  • Discoloured urine: pink, red, brown urine or blood in the urine
  • Frequent and urgent need to urinate
  • Fever and chills
  • Shifting pain in the lower abdomen and groin
  • Varying intensity of pain that comes and goes

Although the exact causes leading to the formation of the stones have not been established yet, a number of factors have been identified which increases the risk of kidney stones.

How Common Are Kidney Stones

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

The prevalence of kidney stones in the United States increased from 3.8% in the late 1970s to 8.8% in the late 2000s. The prevalence of kidney stones was 10% during 20132014. The risk of kidney stones is about 11% in men and 9% in women. Other diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity may increase the risk for kidney stones.

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What Are Kidney Stones

Kidney stones are small, hard bits of crystals that have grown in the kidney, minerals like calcium that are filtered by the kidney. Kind of like hard water that develops hard bits in your tea kettle. They can be small, much smaller than a pea, but they don’t feel small. They’re usually without symptoms when they’re growing in the kidney but when they pass down the very small tube called the ureter, they can get stuck and cause severe pain called renal colic. Renal colic is an intermittent severe pain in your back or side that might move into your pelvis as the stone is passing down to the bladder. It’s often associated with nausea and vomiting and frequent urination. There may be blood in the urine. There’s really nothing quite like it except childbirth.

How Can You Prevent Kidney Stones

6 Symptoms Of Kidney Stones That You Might Not Be Paying ...

Although its not always clear what causes kidney stones, Dr. Chang says theres at least one thing you can do to prevent them: Stay hydrated.

Drink plenty of fluids: six to eight glasses a day, he advises. This dilutes the urine, because what we dont want is really concentrated urine where calcium ions can bind together easily. Instead, we want those calcium ions to be distributed across a larger volume of urine, which theoretically should also flush out the kidneys better in the event that a stone is trying to form.

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Avoiding Recurrence Of Kidney Stones

If you have had one kidney stone, some tips that may help to prevent a second stone forming include:

  • Talk to your doctor about the cause of the previous stone.
  • Ask your doctor to check whether the medications you are on could be causing your stones. Do not stop your medications without talking to your doctor.
  • Get quick and proper treatment of urinary infections.
  • Avoid dehydration. Drink enough fluids to keep your urine volume at or above two litres a day. This can halve your risk of getting a second stone by lowering the concentration of stone-forming chemicals in your urine.
  • Avoid drinking too much tea or coffee. Juices may reduce the risk of some stones, particularly orange, grapefruit and cranberry. Ask your doctor for advice.
  • Reduce your salt intake to lower the risk of calcium-containing stones. Dont add salt while cooking and leave the saltshaker off the table. Choose low- or no-salt processed foods.
  • Avoid drinking more than one litre per week of drinks that contain phosphoric acid, which is used to flavour carbonated drinks such as cola and beer.
  • Always talk to your doctor before making changes to your diet.

Drinking mineral water is fine it cannot cause kidney stones because it contains only trace elements of minerals.

Causes Of Kidney Stones In Men

There are many causes of kidney stones; most common among these is a urinary tract infection. Certain medication is also known to cause renal stones in men. Some aspects of a persons lifestyle habits, such as drinking less water, lack of physical activity over long periods, and consuming excess of calcium oxalate can all contribute to this renal problem. Finally, genetics also predispose certain individuals to kidney stones, especially if there is a family history.

The reason why men have more kidney stones than women is because of larger muscle mass as compared to women. Daily breakdown of the tissue results in increased metabolic waste and a predisposition to stone formation. The other leading cause is a complicated urinary tract, as compared to those of females. The prostate gland in men enlarges with age, leading o a condition known as benign prostate hypertrophy; it can result in difficulty in emptying the bladder. With the obstruction of the bladder outflow, chemicals and toxins supposed to be thrown out of the body instead go on accumulating in the bladder, forming crystals and stones. The structure of penile urethra caused due to gonorrhea infection, catheterization, penile trauma may also further minimize bladder outflow and contribute to the formation of crystals.

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What Kidney Stone Pain Feels Like And Where Youll Feel It

Not all kidney stone pain is the same. For example, the location of pain can change as the stone moves from the kidney to the bladder, says Lieske. When a stone is moving into the ureter, people may feel pain in their flank, or side, or their back, he says.

Notably, if the stone is stuck where the kidney connects to the ureter, the pain can be severe, says Ralph V. Clayman, MD, a professor in the department of urology at the University of California in Irvine. On a scale of 1 to 10, pain can be a 10, he says.; There is no position in which the person is comfortable.

This type of pain has a tendency to come and go in 10- to 30-minute cycles. It can also radiate to the groin area and the front of the thigh, he adds.

Once the stone has moved down to the part of the ureter closer to the bladder, a person tends to have pain in the abdomen or groin, says Lieske. Men sometimes feel pain at the tip of their penis.

As the stone moves down the ureter, it can also mimic the pain of other conditions, says Clayman. For example, if the kidney stone is on the right side of the body, it may feel like appendicitis, or inflammation of the appendix. If the stone is on the left side, people may mistake the pain for diverticulitis, inflammation, or an infection within the small or large intestine, he says.

Fortunately, from this point, the stone can usually pass from the bladder out the urethra, which is typically twice the diameter of the ureter, says Clayman.

Causes Of Kidney Stones

Shrieking Western Women Are Worse Than Kidney Stones

A kidney stone can form when substances such as calcium, oxalate, cystine or uric acid are at high levels in the urine, although stones can form even if these chemicals are at normal levels.

Medications used for treating some medical conditions such as kidney disease, cancer or HIV can also increase your risk of developing kidney stones.;;

A small number of people get kidney stones because of certain medical conditions that lead to high levels of calcium, oxalate, cystine or uric acid in the body.;

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What Causes Kidney Stones

Waste products in the blood can occasionally form crystals that collect inside the kidneys.

Over time, the crystals may build up to form a hard stone-like lump.

This is more likely to happen if you:

  • do not drink enough fluids
  • are taking;some types of;medication
  • have;a medical condition;that raises the levels of certain substances in your urine

After a kidney stone has formed, your body will try to pass it out when you pee.

Kidney Stone Pain As Experienced By A Man And A Woman

As a typical guy, there are several painful illnesses that can hit our brotherhood in an instant. No warning given. No Get out of jail free pass, either. Just cruising along, having another fine, healthy day and baam! suddenly you are lying on the floor in severe distress.

The most feared? A testicular torsion. It can happen spontaneously. It can happen suddenly. And if you are the owner of a testicle or two, it can happen to you. Simply put, the testicle can twist on its supporting ligaments and vessels, in essence cutting off the blood supply while stretching and irritating the supplying nerves. Sounds painful, yes? Excuse me for a second while I wipe my eyestheyre welling up just from talking about this one.

Or better yet? Taking a direct traumatic hit to the groin area. Weve all seen the funniest home video shows where Dad takes one to his manhood, only to buckle over and writhe in pain. Its funny, sure, as long as its not one of us that took the shot. And usually, the laughing female voice we hear is the guys loving wife or girlfriend, still recording. Explain that one to me! Whatever you do, maam, dont put the camera down to help out your man!

At least with these afflictions, though, we cant be compared to a woman dealing with the same illness, shaming us with their inner strength. We can carry on and on and never have to explain ourselves and our pain. Or worry about comparisons.

Translation: Man up, you wimp!

She had been an absolute pleasure.

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