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Kidney Stones: Causes, Types And Symptoms

The kidney filters waste products and excess water from the blood.
When the waste products which include chemicals like calcium,
oxalate and uric acid are in high level in the urine and the amount of nitrate, magnesium,
pyrophosphate which are chemicals that break them down are inadequate,
stony masses are formed in the kidneys.

This stones ,or crystals, are also known as kidney stones or nephrolithasis.

	Kidney stones vary in size. Sometimes they are very small and other times they are large enough to fill the renal pelvis. When they are present in the kidney they are not cause for concern. However when they are in the urethra, they have the ability to obstruct the flow of urine. This will lead to infections. The dam they form in the urethra puts pressures on it causing pain and damage to the kidney tubules.

Other Causes Of Kidney Stones

When you do not drink enough water, you become dehydrated.
This habit can lead to formation of kidney stones in the kidney.
People with medical conditions like:
- Gout,
- hypercalcuiria and inflammatory bowel diseases,
- urinary tract infections,
- high blood pressure and cystic fibrosis have high risk level.

Weight gain may be another cause. Research has shown that the more the body mass index (BMI),
the more likely that he or she will be a sufferer. A large waist size also increases risk.

If you have people in your family line who have had kidney stones then there is a tendency that you could suffer from it. They are hereditary. Where you live can also increase your risk level.
Living in area with warm climate means you will sweat a lot and be dehydrated and dehydration is a major cause.

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Types Of Kidney Stones

Kidney stones may contain calcium, struvite, uric acid or cystine. Calcium is needful by the body.
It helps the bones and muscle stay strong and healthy. However the calcium the body doesn’t use goes to the kidney. When it doesn’t dissolve, it forms stony mass in the kidneys that are known as calcium stones.

Struvite stones are formed after the occurrence of an infection in the urinary system.
The stones are formed by bacterial waste products.
Struvite stones can do great damage to the lining of the kidney.
These infection stones, as they are also known, put the kidneys at high risk of having urinary tract infection.

Uric acid stones occur in individuals who suffer diabetes.
This is because they may also suffer from insulin resistance which will increase the acid level of the urine.

Eating of red meat can also cause uric stones to develop. Cystines stones form in individuals that suffer from cystinuria. This happens when the amount of cystines in urine is high .they do not dissolve and form cystine stones instead.

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