We can avoid kidney stones if we follow the same recommendations that protect against heart attacks and osteoporosis – reported at the American Urological Association conference in Washington.
Dr. Marshall L. Stoller, a urologist at the University of California, San Francisco, presented the results of several studies showing that people prone to urolithiasis should follow a low-calorie diet, avoid salt, overweight and obesity, and consume adequate amounts of calcium and take medications. lowering blood cholesterol.
The fact that calcium protects against urolithiasis is suggested by many years of observations conducted in the USA on 78 551 women by specialists from the University of California. They have both a lower incidence of osteoporosis and nephrolithiasis, which occurs in 1-2 percent. population.
Research conducted by specialists from the University of Oxford in England on 50 people of both sexes showed that it is also worth reducing the consumption of red meat. You should eat more fruit and foods that are high in fiber and trace elements. However, it was not found that vegetables and vitamin C protect against urolithiasis, which may even aggravate the disease.
Another study by the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) showed that antioxidants protect the kidneys from the formation of plaque in the kidneys. Although vitamin C is one of the strongest antioxidants, the observation of 17 people suggests that only carotenoids, such as alpha carotene (provitamin A), beta carotene and beta cryptoxanthin, have such an effect. These antioxidants are found in carrots, sweet potatoes, broccoli, as well as pumpkins, mandarins, tomatoes, and green peas.
The most surprising thing is that statins, drugs that lower blood cholesterol, can protect against urolithiasis. This was shown by 10-year observations of specialists from the University of California in San Francisco, which included 57 people. They show that in men, these drugs reduce the risk of kidney stones by 320%, and women – even by 50%.
Kidney stones are formed from compounds found in the urine, most often calcium oxalates, phosphates and uric acid. The condition for the formation of deposits is the formation of the so-called crystallization nucleus on which crystals of specific urine components are deposited. Most, over 40 percent. stones, consists of calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate, and 35 percent. is formed from calcium oxalate.
The disease can appear at any age, but is most severe between the ages of 30 and 50. Extremely painful attack of colic urolithiasis, even compared to childbirth, in 50-70% sick only appears once in a lifetime. Other people have recurrences. These are often patients with the so-called calcium leak in the kidneys, which promotes urolithiasis, but can also cause osteoporosis (PAP)