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Who is likely to get stones in kidney?

Both men and women, though kidney stones are more common in men. People with a family history are two and a half times more likely to form stones than those without family history. The highest risk occurs between the ages of 20 and 50.

Stone formation occurs when either excessive amounts of a mineral are excreted into the urine or when the volume of fluid in your body is decreased because of dehydration.

Pain.

It`s called renal colic - one of the most intense of all pains - and it`s caused by pressure on the kidney due to blocked urine flow. The pain often radiates along the path of the urinary tract, beginning high in the back over the kidney and travelling to the lower abdomen, groin and even into the genitals. The pain begins suddenly and quickly becomes unbearable. Renal colic is often accompanied by nausea and vomiting not because the stomach is involved, but simply because of the severe pain.

Bleeding

In about 90 per cent of all cases, kidney stones cause bleeding into the urine.

CULPRITS APLENTY

About 80 per cent of the time, the principal mineral in a kidney stone is calcium, usually combined with oxalate (60 percent of all stones) but sometimes paired with phosphate (20 percent) or other substances like uric acid.

TO PREVENT KIDNEY STONES

• Drink lots of water and other fluids, aiming for at least two litres a day.

• Eat moderate amounts of calcium-rich foods. Stay away from calcium supplements and vitamin D supplements, which increase the intestinal absorption of calcium.

• Avoid foods with high levels of oxalate; spinach, beets, sweet potatoes, nuts, instant coffee, tea and chocolate head this list.

• Avoid excessive amounts of protein, especially from meat and other animal sources. Reduce your consumption of salt, staying below the recommended maximum of 2,400 mg per day.

• Increase your consumption of citrus fruits and juices (except apple and grapefruit juices); in addition to potassium, they provide a second helpful nutrient, citrate.