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Monitoring The Intake Of High Acid Foods
Highly acidic urine can increase the risk of uric acid kidney stones and make passing them more painful.
High amounts of acid in the urine also encourage the kidneys to reabsorb citrate rather than excrete it. Citrate is a compound that can help flush out calcium-based stones, as well as impair their growth.
Highly acidic foods include:
According to the National Kidney Foundation, almost 1 in 10 people in the United States develop a kidney stone during their lifetime. The risk is around 19% for men and 9% for women.
Most men experience their first kidney stone after the age of 30 years.
Magnesium And Vitamin B6 For Kidney Stone Prevention
149 patients with longstanding recurrent idiopathic calcium oxalate and mixed calcium oxalate/calcium phosphate renal stones received 100 mg of magnesium oxide 3 times a day and 10 mg of pyridoxine once a day for 4.5 to 6 years. The mean rate of stone formation fell by 92.3%, from 1.3 stones per patient per year prior to the study to 0.10 stones per patient per year during the study. No significant side effects occurred.
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Other Proposed Natural Treatments
If you’ve ever passed a kidney stone, you do not want to repeat the experience! The sharp and irregular stones travel down the slender tube leading from the kidney to the bladder, and from the bladder to the urethra, following the path by which urine exits the body. While tiny stones may pass unnoticed, a larger stone can induce some of the worst pain that humans experience.
Most kidney stones are composed of calcium and oxalic acid, substances present in the urine that can crystallize inside the kidneys. Although these chemicals occur in everyone’s urine, our natural biochemistry is usually able to prevent them from crystallizing. However, sometimes these protective methods fail and a stone develops. This article focuses mainly on thesecalcium oxalate stones.
Less commonly, kidney stones may be made from calcium and phosphate, from another substance called struvite or, rarely, from uric acid or cystine.
It isn’t known why some people develop kidney stones and others do not. However, once you’ve had a stone, you are fairly likely to develop another.
Low fluid intake greatly increases the risk of developing virtually all types of stones.1,2,3 For this reason, individuals at risk of developing stones are often advised to increase their fluid intake. However, while there is evidence that fluids in the form of coffee, tea, beer, and wine can decrease risk of kidney stone development, apple juice and grapefruit juice may have the opposite effect.4,5
How Does It Happen
Individuals who have a history of hypertension, fast weight loss, deficient magnesium or constant dehydration, are prone to kidney stones.
Men suffer more from kidney stones compared;with women. Of course, there is no joy because we do not need to suffer at all.
Kidney stones consist of calcium phosphate, uric acid, or calcium oxalate. The calcium phosphate and calcium oxalate are most common in the formation of rocks.
Individuals who have kidney stones consisting of uric acid, usually have gout. It is a nasty condition when crystals of acid pierce tissues and cause pain. If you read book; CaptainBlood written by Rafael Sabatini about pirates, you can imagine how it can be painful. It does not matter if you are governor of Jamaica, anyway, you would search help from the hated man. I talk about the book. By the way, did you read this book?
Kidney stones created pain if the size is more significant as 5 millimeters. People need medicine, such as painkillers or muscle relaxants. Larger stones removed with surgery or using the method of lithotripsy.
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Why You Get Stones
Part of preventing stones is finding out why you get them. Your health care provider will perform tests to find out what is causing this. After finding out why you get stones, your health care provider will give you tips to help stop them from coming back.
Some of the tests he or she may do are listed below.
Medical and Dietary History
Your health care provider will ask questions about your personal and family medical history. He or she may ask if:
- Have you had more than one stone before?
- Has anyone in your family had stones?
- Do you have a medical condition that may increase your chance of having stones, like frequent diarrhea, gout or diabetes?
Knowing your eating habits is also helpful. You may be eating foods that are known to raise the risk of stones. You may also be eating too few foods that protect against stones or not drinking enough fluids.
Understanding your medical, family and dietary history helps your health care provider find out how likely you are to form more stones.
Blood and Urine Tests
Imaging Tests
When a health care provider sees you for the first time and you have had stones before, he or she may want to see recent X-rays or order a new X-ray. They will do this to see if there are any stones in your urinary tract. Imaging tests may be repeated over time to check for stone growth. You may also need this test if you are having pain, hematuria or recurrent infections.
Stone Analysis
The Role Of Kidneys In Your Body
Lets start at the beginning: with your kidneys.
Your kidneys are bean-shaped, fist-sized organs that sit on either side of your spine, just below the ribcage. They are responsible for filtering your blood to remove waste in the form of dead cells, acid, and unnecessary salts and minerals. Your body mixes the waste it collects with water to create urine. Urine then travels to your bladder, where it stays until your body signals to excrete it. 2
Because of their role in your body, kidneys are essential to your overall health. In addition to filtering your blood, they also secrete hormones to make red blood cells, keep your bones healthy, and even control your blood pressure. And without your kidneys, your body would not be able to stop waste from building up in your blood. 2
But what happens when your kidneys themselves are unable to rid themselves of excess waste? Well, one of the possibilities is a kidney stone.;
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If I Have Had A Kidney Stone What Foods Or Drinks Should I Avoid
You should work with your healthcare provider to determine the best treatment for you as it may depend on the type of stone. If you had a stone, reducing salt and overly-salted foods are recommended . If eating oxalate-rich foods, an adequate amount of calcium should accompany the meal. Limiting the intake of foods high in purine, such as red meat, organ meat, and shellfish, and increasing fruit and vegetable consumption may minimize the risk of stone formation.
Four Main Kinds Of Kidney Stones
There are four main kinds of kidney stones:
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Calcium oxalate stones, by far the most common type of kidney stone
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Calcium phosphate stones, also very common
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Uric acid stones, often associated with diabetes
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Struvite stones, often caused by an active infection
The two most common kidney stones include calcium’ in their names, so does that mean you should cut out milk and other calcium-rich foods?
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Types Of Kidney Stones
The different types of stones are made of different types of substances. It’s important to know the type of stone you have, so you can know what may have caused it and how to prevent it.
If you pass a kidney stone, you should take it to your doctor so they can send it to the lab and find out what kind it is:
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Calcium stones. Most kidney stones are made from calcium, in the form of calcium oxalate. There are two kinds of calcium stones:
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Calcium oxalate. Oxalate is a substance made daily by your liver. Some fruits and vegetables, as well as nuts and chocolate, are high in it. Your body absorbs the substance when you eat these foods. Other things that can make the concentration of calcium or oxalate in your urine to rise are taking high doses of vitamin D, intestinal bypass surgery and certain metabolic disorders.
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Calcium phosphate. This type of stone happens more often in people with metabolic conditions, like renal tubular acidosis or with people who take medications to treat migraines or seizures.
Struvite stones. These can form from a urinary tract infection . The bacteria that cause the infection make ammonia build up in your urine. This leads to formation of the stones. The stones can get large very quickly.
Uric acid stones. These form in people who lose too much fluid because of chronic diarrhea or malabsorption; eating a high-protein diet; or having diabetes or metabolic syndrome. Certain genetic factors also may increase your risk of uric acid stones.
A Dozen Ways To Reduce Your Risk Of Kidney Stones
1. Maximize fluid intake. Especially drink fruit and vegetable juices. Orange, grape and carrot juices are high in citrates which inhibit both a buildup of uric acid and also stop calcium salts from forming.
2. Control urine pH. Slightly acidic urine helps prevent urinary tract infections, dissolves both phosphate and struvite stones, and will not cause oxalate stones. And of course one way to make urine slightly acidic is to take vitamin C.
3. Avoid excessive oxalates by not eating rhubarb, spinach, chocolate, or dark tea or coffee.
4. Lose weight. Being overweight is associated with substantially increased risk of kidney stones.
5. Calcium is probably not the real culprit. Low calcium may itself cause calcium stones .
6. Most kidney stones are compounds of calcium and yet many Americans are calcium deficient. Instead of lowering calcium intake, reduce excess dietary phosphorous by avoiding carbonated soft drinks, especially colas. Cola soft drinks contain excessive quantities of phosphorous as phosphoric acid. This is the same acid that is used by dentists to dissolve tooth enamel before applying bonding resins.
7. Take a magnesium supplement of at least the US RDA of 300-400 mg/day. More may be desirable in order to maintain an ideal 1:1 balance of magnesium to calcium. Many people eating “modern” processed-food diets do not consume optimal quantities of magnesium.
10. Persons with cystine stones should follow a low methionine diet and use buffered vitamin C.
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When Should A Kidney Stone Be Treated
When a kidney stone causes pain to the extent that the pain cannot be controlled with oral pain medication, the stone should be treated. Similarly, stones that are associated with severe nausea or vomiting should be treated. Some stones are associated with infection or fever such situations can be life threatening and demand prompt attention. Stones that are associated with a solitary kidney, poor overall kidney function or complete blockage of urine flow should also all be treated.
Sometimes, when a stone is associated with bothersome symptoms, it may be appropriate to wait and see if the stone will pass on its own. If the stone is small, this is a very reasonable course of action. However, stones larger in size than 5 mm are unlikely to pass on their own and should be considered for treatment.
Do I Really Need To Save All Of My Urine For 24 Hours
Yes, your healthcare provider needs to know how much urine you are producing over a 24-hour period and how much of each of the substances is present. Since the substances may be eliminated in the urine at varying rates, the 24-hour urine is a better representation than a single or random urine sample and is a consistent frame of reference.
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Who Is Typically Affected By Kidney Stones
A kidney stone is a hard mineral deposit that forms over the course of many months or years.
According to the University of Maryland Medical Center, kidney stones affect about 10% of American men and women every year. This results;in;roughly 1 in 1,000 adults being hospitalized for related complications. Of those adults, nearly 60 percent will find themselves back in the hospital for a repeat episode within the next seven years.
Men tend to get;kidney stones twice as often as women, though there are many women who are affected each year.
Magnesium In The Body
Some of the major roles of magnesium in your body include helping manage nerve and muscle function, ensuring appropriate bone growth, regulating energy production and protein synthesis, and easing nausea and constipation. Magnesium deficiency is rare in most healthy people. If your intake of magnesium is low, your kidneys help keep your body from getting rid of too much magnesium. However, magnesium levels may be deficient if your dietary intake is poor, if you have alcoholism or a malabsorptive disorder, or use certain medications. Foods such as nuts, seeds, whole-grains and green leafy vegetables are good sources of magnesium.
- Some of the major roles of magnesium in your body include helping manage nerve and muscle function, ensuring appropriate bone growth, regulating energy production and protein synthesis, and easing nausea and constipation.
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Herbs And Supplements To Use Only With Caution
According to some, but not all research, use ofvitamin C supplements can slightly raise levels of oxalate in the urine,40,41,53 which could, in turn, increase risk of kidney stones. However, large-scale observational studies have found that people who consume large amounts of vitamin C have no increased risk or even a decreased risk of kidney stone formation.42-44 Nonetheless, it seems that in certain people, high vitamin C intake can lead to a rapid increase in urinary oxalate, and in one case stones developed within a few days.45 The bottom line: People with a history of kidney stones should probably limit vitamin C supplements to about 100 mg daily.46
Some evidence hints that excessive consumption of phosphorus in the form of soft drinks might increase kidney stone risk, but study results are contradictory, and if there is an effect, it appears to be small.62-64
As noted above, regular consumption of grapefruit juice may significantly increase risk of stones.17
Kidney Stone Prevention With Magnesium
Comments: 0 | October 22nd, 2018
If you suffer from kidney stones, you are without a doubt well aware of just how painful and debilitating they can be. However, they can be more than just painful, since they are also often associated with such dangerous health conditions as obesity, hypertension and diabetes.
And, with around 10% of our population experiencing them, they are not an uncommon ailment.
However, as with most health conditions, prevention is the best course of action. ;This may entail sticking with a diet of natural whole foods which are high in magnesium, or by adding a magnesium supplement to your daily regimen.
But just why is it that magnesium works so well at preventing and treating renal stones?
Here is what you need to know about kidney stones, your diet, and how magnesium can help you avoid the recurring pain of them.
What are Kidney Stones?
Kidney stones are hard, pebble-like formations in the kidneys which can be anywhere from smaller than a grain of rice, to larger than a golf ball. The most common cause of them is high urinary calcium, which is the case about 80% of the time. These stones form when calcium oxalate attaches to calcium phosphate within the kidneys tissues, which then likely detaches into the urine and continues to amass to the point it can become a large and painful blockage in the urinary tract.
There is also the possibility of stones forming in urine, although more research is needed to confirm this.
Symptoms of Kidney Stones
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Using A Fruit Fly Model
Kidney stones are hard, often jagged masses of crystalized minerals that form in the kidney. Although stones can be small, their passage can result in significant pain and are the reason that more than half a million people go to emergency rooms annually, according to the National Kidney Foundation.
Thomas Chi, MD
The fruit fly produces stones similar to those in humans and has proven to be an excellent model for exploring risk factors for stones in humans. In the study conducted in collaboration with the Buck Institute on Aging and the Childrens Hospital of Oakland Research Institute, scientists decided to look within humans and the flies to explore the interplay of zinc with oxalate, calcium and other minerals that make up kidney stones.
The idea made sense, because our most recent research demonstrates that zinc is important for the mineralization and calcification processes that lead to urinary stones, said Chi.
The findings showed that changes in oxalate levels in the urine, which are;a known risk factor for kidney stones, tracked well with dietary zinc intake: as zinc dropped, urinary oxalate changed dramatically.
Can Milk Of Magnesium Harm My Kidneys
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