Kidney stones occur in clusters! In the hot summer, are you drinking enough water?

Since the beginning of summer, we have admitted several patients with urinary tract infections, all of whom were men in their 40s. The infections were relatively serious and all required hospitalization and intravenous treatment.

Due to body structure, urinary tract infections are common in women, but rare in men. So why do they get urinary tract infections?

It turns out that they have a common cause, which is kidney stones. Kidney stones cause urinary tract obstruction, and urinary tract obstruction induces urinary tract infection.

People say kidney stones are painful, but don’t they feel pain? Why aren’t they discovered earlier?

Kidney stone pain, why not detect it earlier?

Kidney stones refer to hard substances formed by the accumulation of crystals in the kidneys. According to the composition of the stones, kidney stones are divided into calcium oxalate stones, urate stones, calcium phosphate stones, etc. Among them, calcium oxalate stones are the most common, accounting for 71% to 84%. Calcium oxalate stones are hard, not easy to break, rough, irregular, and easy to damage the urethra and cause hematuria.

Kidney stones first form in the kidneys. After formation, some remain in the kidneys, while others are discharged into the ureters and bladder.

If the stone is large and fixed in the renal pelvis, there are usually no symptoms, or only soreness and discomfort in the waist, and dull pain or pain when physical activity increases;

If the stone is small and is discharged with urine, you may not feel anything.

If the stone is not too big or too small and is discharged into the ureter, but the ureter has three narrow places, the stone will get stuck in the narrow place and stimulate the ureter to spasm, causing renal colic. Or the stone will block the ureter and induce urinary tract infection and cause pain.

Therefore, only a small number of kidney stone patients experience pain.

Many kidney stones go undetected if there is no pain, infection, or routine physical examination, as was the case with these patients.

However, the absence of pain does not mean that stones are harmless.

The absence of pain does not mean that stones are harmless

Stones block the urinary tract, causing urinary tract obstruction and easily inducing urinary tract infection; but the greater harm is that long-term urinary tract obstruction causes obstructive nephropathy and chronic renal failure; stones repeatedly damage the urethral mucosa and induce cancer.

Kidney stones mostly occur in young and middle-aged people, more often in men than in women, with a male-female ratio of about 2 to 3:1. The incidence rate is higher in southern my country and coastal cities, and the incidence rate of high-protein diet is higher in residents in economically developed areas. The incidence rate of kidney stones is also higher in obese patients and workers working in high temperatures.

In the hot summer, people sweat a lot. If you don't drink enough water, urine production will decrease, urine concentration will increase, and the concentration of various components in urine will increase, forming stones. In addition, less urine volume and less urination frequency can also easily induce urinary tract infection.

Summer is the season for kidney stones

Whether it is calcium oxalate stones or urate stones, drinking less water, small urine volume, and concentrated urine are the most common causes of kidney stones.

Take the common calcium oxalate stones as an example. Oxalate in urine combines with calcium in urine to form calcium oxalate, which gradually deposits to form kidney stones.

Excessive intake of foods rich in oxalic acid (such as chocolate, nuts, spinach, amaranth, water spinach, mustard greens, beets, leeks, bamboo shoots, etc.), animal protein, salt, etc., or blindly supplementing with vitamin C, which can be converted into oxalic acid, can lead to increased blood and urine oxalic acid levels.

In addition, when high-calcium foods are eaten together with high-oxalate foods, calcium and oxalate combine in the intestines to form calcium oxalate, which is difficult to absorb. The absorption of both calcium and oxalate will be reduced, which will reduce the blood oxalate concentration and make it less likely to form kidney stones. If the calcium content of food is insufficient, it will increase the absorption of oxalate.

The fact that low-calcium foods increase the incidence of kidney stones, while high-calcium foods reduce the incidence of kidney stones may overturn many people's traditional understanding.

Therefore, a light diet, stir-frying or blanching some vegetables before eating, reducing the intake of vitamin C and increasing the intake of calcium will reduce the formation of calcium oxalate stones.

Drinking plenty of water and urinating frequently are good ways to prevent kidney stones of various components.

The following dietary habits can reduce the formation of stones:

1. Reduce the intake of animal protein

Supplement protein through milk, eggs, etc., consume animal protein such as lean meat in moderation, and avoid high-purine foods such as animal offal.

2. Reduce sodium intake

Patients with recurrent calcium oxalate kidney stones should strictly control salt intake. In addition to table salt, they should also control invisible salt in pickled foods, soy sauce, and processed foods.

3. Don’t blindly supplement vitamin C

4. Ensure adequate calcium intake

The daily calcium intake should reach 1000~1200 mg. If food is insufficient, calcium tablets can be used to supplement it, and it should be taken with food.

5. Ensure adequate drinking water

Don't wait until you are thirsty to drink water. You should drink water regularly and consume enough water every day to reach the goal of urinating every 2 hours during the day and a daily urine volume of 2500ml.

We also lose water when we exhale and sweat, which is medically called insensible water loss. Normally, the insensible water loss is about 500-800 ml per day. In the hot summer, when we sweat more, the insensible water loss can reach 1500 ml or even 2000 ml.

Therefore, in order to ensure the daily urine output of 2500ml, the daily water intake should be 2500ml + insensible water loss. You probably have an idea of ​​how much water you should drink every day.

In short, eating less salt and drinking more water can prevent the formation of kidney stones. Are you drinking enough water?