Li Hui, Department of Urology, Strategic Support Force Characteristic Medical Center (formerly 306 Hospital).
Edited by Liu Yan/Cui Yan, Medical Science Popularization Center
The causes of urinary system stones are complex, which are not only related to genetics, environment, metabolism and other factors, but also affected by unhealthy lifestyle and unreasonable dietary habits. From a preventive point of view, stones can be avoided by changing the poor diet, quitting smoking and limiting alcohol, insisting on moderate exercise, and going to the hospital for regular physical examinations.
Patients with stones should avoid eating
In daily life, poor eating habits have a great impact on the occurrence of stones. For example, although sugar is needed by the human body, excessive intake will cause excessive sugar concentration in the urine, which will lead to the formation of stones, and fatty foods will absorb a large amount of oxalic acid, affecting the body's excretion and promoting the formation of stones.
Fruits and vegetables with high oxalic acid content, such as spinach, celery, coriander, beetroot, cauliflower, cherries, grapes, oranges, lemons, apricots, etc., oxalic acid will crystallize into calcium oxalate in the kidney area and urine, and then form stones. Patients can understand the structure and type of stones they suffer from through medical testing, so as to provide a basis for dietary avoidance. Patients with calcium oxalate stones should drink less strong tea, coffee, less chocolate and various dried fruits, and try to eat less spinach, bamboo shoots, amaranth, tomatoes, etc.; patients with calcium phosphate stones should avoid milk and its products, egg yolks, shrimp skin, tofu, sesame paste, and vegetables and fruits with high calcium and alkali content; patients with uric acid stones should not consume high-purine foods, such as animal offal, fatty meat, pig brains, chickens, hairtail, yellow croaker, shrimp, etc.
Eliminate hidden dangers in the body as soon as possible
Once you have symptoms such as low back pain, frequent urination, urgency, hematuria, and chills, you need to go to the hospital in time. The main methods of diagnosing stone disease are medical history and physical examination, through the patient's symptoms, family history, physical examination, etc., the doctor can preliminarily determine whether the patient has urinary system stones.
The physical examination items include: (1) urine examination, which observes the red blood cells, white blood cells, crystals and other components in the urine. (2) Imaging examinations, such as ultrasound, CT and other methods, can directly show the location, size and shape of the stone. (3) Metabolic examination, check the calcium, phosphorus, uric acid and other substances in the patient's blood and urine, and analyze the cause of stones.
If the stone is small, the doctor will prescribe appropriate medications, and the patient can try to pass the stone on its own under the guidance of the doctor, including drinking plenty of water and moving more to promote the stone to flow down the urethra and pass it out of the body. Depending on the size and location of the stone, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy plus oral medication may be used to pass the stone, or surgery may be required if the ureter is significantly narrowed or if the stone is large.
(The picture comes from the Internet)