Urinary stones are diseases in which urine crystals condense to form stones. In the past, the incidence rate was higher in the West than in the East, but recent statistics show that the incidence rates in Korea and Japan are similar to those in the West. Urolithiasis is higher in men than in women, and it is known to occur mainly in their 40s and 50s, but recently, it can be easily found in young and elderly people.
This urinary tract stone is known as a representative summer disease, but you should not be careless even in winter. This is because the cold increases the intake of foods such as stews and hot soups with high sodium content, while the amount of activity and pure water intake decreases, increasing the risk of stones.
Lee Sang-hyeop, a professor of urology at Kyung Hee University Hospital, said, "A lifestyle that helps prevent absenteeism and recurrence is to drink a lot of pure water so that the amount of excreted urine can be more than 2.5 liters," adding, "In addition, active activity, especially aerobic exercise, helps with natural emissions due to gravity, which is not easy to the cold winter."
Urinary stones are diseases in which stones occur in all roads, "urrows," where waste filtered from the kidneys is discharged from the body. Urology is a generic term for ureter, bladder, and urethra, and even patients with the same ureter stones have various location, size, and ingredients, so personalized diagnosis and treatment are required.
Professor Lee Sang-hyeop said, "The symptoms vary depending on the location and size of the stones, and when the symptoms are severe, most patients visit the emergency room. If the stones come close to the bladder, hematuria is accompanied by symptoms such as frequent urine, and infection can lead to sepsis."
Eating low water intake leads to a decrease in urine volume, and waste products are concentrated in the body without being discharged from the body. An environment is created in which the factors that make stones can be combined to create stones. Looking at the ingredients of stones, it was often composed of calcium and fisheries in the past, but the proportion of uric acid stones has been steadily increasing due to the recent increase in animal protein intake (red meat, etc.
Professor Lee said, "If the size of the stone is smaller than 4mm, you can use painkillers and alpha blockers that help release the ureter rather than performing surgery right away. If the size of the stone is large or the pain is too severe to wait for natural discharge, or if the urine flow is not smooth due to the stones."
Among non-surgical treatments, extracorporeal shock crushing stone surgery has the advantage of being able to receive outpatient treatment without anesthesia, so patients' preference is high. However, there are disadvantages such as an increase in the number of procedures according to the degree of stone stiffness, pain during the procedure, and limitation of application of pregnant women or patients with bleeding tendency.
On the other hand, ureteral endoscopic surgery is the most widely used for surgical treatment. It is to insert an endoscope through the ureter to check the stones, crush the stones directly with a laser, and remove them. Even if the stone is hard, it can be solved at once, but general anesthesia is required, and there is a hassle of having to undergo a procedure for removing stents at an outpatient clinic after discharge.
Writer: Youngjun Kim
(Picture from Unsplash)
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