Symptoms and causes

Kidney Stones

Symptoms of Kidney Stones

Most people who suffer from kidney stones are asymptomatic. That is why, until the stones or calculi do not move inside the kidney or come out of it -appearing the well-known nephritic colic- they are not aware that they have them.

The typical pain associated with kidney stones is that of nephritic colic. This pain that everyone has heard of, which begins suddenly in the lumbar region, radiates to the genital or abdominal area and may be associated with the presence of nausea or vomiting, occurs when a stone is mobilized, obstructing the outflow of urine from the kidney. This is undoubtedly the fundamental symptom of stone presentation. In fact, it does not have to be only a kidney stone, it can be in another location such as the ureter, which is the most common. The pain of nephritic colic is usually relieved or reduced by applying heat or hot water immersion baths. Unlike the pain of lumbago, back pain or muscle contracture, the pain of colic is not modified by changing position.

Within the symptomatology that produces the renal calculus, it can also arise:

• Fever, due to an associated infection.
• Nausea.
• Vomiting.
• Sweating, associated with nausea.
• Hematuria (blood in the urine), due to stone mobilization.

Causes of Kidney Stones

Fundamentally, 85-90% of stones are associated with diet and lifestyle habits in the western world today. We drink little amount of water and more amount of other substances that can dehydrate or that have a lot of sugar, favoring the presence of stones. Also diets very rich in proteins, with low amounts of fruits and vegetables, all this being a breeding ground that favors lithogenesis, which is the scientific name for the formation of stones in the urinary tract.

Most of the stones are formed by the metabolic syndrome, which also causes hypertension and diabetes. The most frequent spectrum that specialists in this pathology encounter is middle-aged, hypertensive, obese and diabetic men.

There is a very specific type of calculus, with a very small percentage (less than 1%) of calculi associated with cystine, a hereditary disease that has an autosomal recessive inheritance. There may be a certain familial association in patients who have other diseases with this characteristic, which are associated, for example, with hyperparathyroidism, MEN syndromes, all these endocrine-metabolic diseases that have their clinical manifestation with the formation of kidney stones.

Factors that increase the risk of developing kidney stones are:

• Dehydration. Not drinking enough water every day or drinking other substances high in sugar can increase the risk of cholelithiasis.
• Diets. Diets rich in protein, sodium and sugar may favor the formation of some types of kidney stones.
• Obesity. A high body mass index and weight gain may be associated with an increased risk of having stones.