Tips to Preventing Kidney Stones
By Sandra Kim Leong

Concentrated urine causes the formation of kidney stones. When your urine gets concentrated, minerals and other salts form crystals. They get attached to the inner lining of your kidney. These crystals develop over some time to form calculus of various sizes. Most kidney stones are passed out without causing any harm. It is those large kidney stones which block the ureta, leading to infection and difficulty in passing urine.

The most common symptom indicating the presence of kidney stones is intense pain. This pain is first felt in your back or just under the ribs. When the stone moves down, the pain shifts to your lower abdomen and then to genital organs. Urine in your blood is an important sign of kidney stone. Another important symptom is constant urge to urinate.

There are four different types of kidney stones. Most of the kidney stones are calcium stones which are essentially a combination of calcium and oxalate. These are found in your urine due to many reasons. The excessive use of vitamin D for other ailments may result in the presence of large amount of calcium. Struvite stones are normally found in women. They are produced by bacteria responsible for urinary tract infections. These bacteria produced a special type of enzyme which increases the quantity of ammonia in urine. The other two types are uric acid stones and cystine stones.

How to prevent the development of kidney stones? One of the major causes leading to the development of kidney stones is the inadequate consumption of fluids. Sufficient liquid is required to flush out the toxic waste materials.

A lack of fiber in your diet can also contribute to the rise in stone formation. Hence you should always consume more vegetables and fruits in favour over red meats and to increase your fiber intake.

Excessive medications have also been cited as a possible cause for kidney stones. It is therefore important that you keep yourself healthy and your immune system strong. Also reduce your dependence on drugs by adopting more holistic approaches to keeping well.