Kidney Stone Sufferers Redefine the Concept of Pain

It is virtually impossible to fully describe the process of managing and passing a kidney stone to someone who has not had this experience. Every adjective available has been used, but none quite fit the bill. To say that having a kidney stone is similar to the pain of labor and delivery for a pregnant woman does both the pregnant woman and the kidney sufferer a disservice as each is quite different and unique in its own right.

Kidney stone sufferers learn to redefine their own concept of pain. Over the past 15-20 years, physicians and hospital emergency rooms have attempted to standardize the concept of pain through the use of the 10-point “smiley face” pain scale. Since there is nothing beyond “10”, most kidney sufferers understand a “10” to be the pain they experience during the roughest parts of the kidney stone process. Consequently, while we may suffer significant pain from other conditions, illnesses, or accidents, rarely can we describe that pain much higher than a “5” or “6” on the pain scale. In other words, the pain of say, a broken leg for a non-kidney stone sufferer may rate a “10” for them; but it is highly unlikely that anyone having experienced a kidney stone will rate that same pain much higher than “6” when comparing this pain to that experienced during a kidney stone episode.

Until next time...cheers!

Kidney Stones Raise Atherosclerosis Risk

An analysis of data from the CARDIA study reinforces the idea that kidney stones and atherosclerosis (a thickening and hardening of the arteries) have common risk factors. By year 20 of this long-term research study, 200 (3.9%) of the 5,115 participants had reported having had kidney stones, a result which is statistically significant. 

Carotid wall thickness measured at year 20 was greater in those with kidney stones. The carotid artery is responsible for the primary flow of blood to the brain. Kidney stones were associated with a significant 60% increased risk of carotid atherosclerosis, even after adjusting for major atherosclerotic risk factors, investigators concluded. Carotid artery disease is a frequent factor in the incidence of stroke.

The study does not identify why atherosclerosis is significantly higher with those patients who have had kidney stones, but it does provide a basis for continued research in this area. For the time being, it appears that it would be wise for sufferers of kidney stones to make themselves aware of the risk factors associated with atherosclerosis and modify their diets and behaviors accordingly.

Until next time...cheers!

Are Clinical Trials Right for You?

Clinical trials provide an opportunity for patients to participate in the research process and stay on top of cutting edge research in a field. Participating in a research study allows the patient to play an active role in his or her on health care and treatment. Oftentimes, patients are able to have access to new treatments before they are available to the general public. There are risks associated with participation in a study, and it is possible that there may even be unpleasant, serious, or even life-threatening side effects to the treatment.

The decision to participate in a clinical trial is always up to the patient, and the patient is within his or her rights to refuse to participate. Clinical study participation is not for everyone, and care should be given to the decision to participate. Patients may drop out of studies at any time, but should continue participation in the study if at all possible, since dropping out can affect the study’s outcome. It is also possible that the institution where the study is being conducted may end a patient’s participation involuntarily if it is determined that it is in the patients’ best interest to stop participation, if the patient does not follow the rules, or if the study is discontinued.

Patient confidentiality is always a primary concern, and while the researchers will likely publish their findings, they will not release the names or identities of specific study participants without written permission.

Until next time…cheers!

Kidney Stone Formation Linked to Antioxidants

According to a large population-based study, lower serum levels of certain antioxidants may be involved in the development of kidney stones.

Investigators Peter A. Holoch, MD, and Chad R. Tracy, MD, of the University of Iowa in Iowa City, showed that the average levels of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, and beta-cryptoxanthin are significantly lower in people who have experienced kidney stones. The researchers have concluded that these antioxidants could play a significant role in preventing stone formation. Consequently, the lower the level of these antioxidants the greater you are at risk for kidney stones.

Foods high in alpha-carotene include pumpkin, carrots, squash, corn meal, melons, tangerines, passion fruit, and plantains. Beta-carotene includes some similar foods as well as peppers, lettuce, kale, spinach, apricots, cherries, and pistachios. Beta-cryptoxanthin is found naturally in peppers, pumpkin, squash, persimmons, tangerines and peaches. Foods high in lutein include kale, collard greens, spinach, parsley, mustard greens, and okra. Lycopene is found in high amounts in tomatoes, guavas, watermelon, and grapefruit.

While the results of this study are interesting, stone formers must be aware that many of these foods are also high in oxalates, and oxalate intake and the body’s ability to metabolize oxalates is central to the process of stone formation. It would be wise to carefully assess each of these antioxidant containing foods by cross-referencing them with the list of foods to avoid before introducing any of these items into your diet in any sufficient quantity.

Until next time...cheers! 

Some Interesting Facts About Kidney Stones

Did you know that there are more than 1 million cases of kidney stones each year in the United States.  That’s 83,333 stones per month, 19,230 per week, 2,739 per day, 144 per hour and one stone each and every minute of each and every day.

Approximately 1 in 272 Americans will have a kidney stone each year. The risk of forming a kidney stone is 10% over the lifetime of each adult. Males tend to form stones more frequently than females, with 6.3% of males aged 20-74 reporting a stone each year. Each year, 4.1% of females in the same age range report having suffered with a kidney stone.

The group most at-risk for forming kidney stones is white males. Both white males and females are more prone to kidney stone formation than African-American men and women. While kidney stones occur with much greater frequency in males, the number of women who develop kidney stones has been increasing in recent years. The reason often given is that since Title IX was enacted in the 1970’s, women have been participating in sporting activities in ever-increasing numbers. Playing sports increases the risk of dehydration, which can lead to kidney stone formation. Kidney stone sufferers have long known that proper hydration is critically important to lowering stone risk.

Most people experience their first kidney stone between the ages of 20 and 40, and once a person develops that first stone, he or she is much more prone to develop additional stones in the future.

The largest kidney stone that most surgeons ever get to see is around the size of a golf ball. Most stones, however, much smaller, with the average stone approximately 2-4 millimeters in size. Imagine the shock of Sandor Sarkadi when it was discovered that he was carrying around a kidney stone weighing in at a staggering 2.48 pounds. The stone, which was approximately the size of a coconut was surgically removed by Mr. Sarkadi’s doctor. Mr. Sarkadi, a native Hungarian, is now the proud owner of the Guiness Book of World Records record for the largest kidney stone ever recorded. As one who has experienced multiple stones of average size, and having experienced the excruciating pain associated with these small stones, I can only imagine Mr. Sarkadi’s suffering.

Until next time…cheers!

Watch Out for "Instant" Kidney Stone Cures

There are a number of “Instant Cures” for kidney stones making the rounds on the Internet these days. I have reviewed a number of them. Most of them claim to reduce your stones to “slush” so that the stone or stones can be painlessly passed through the urinary tract. Do not be fooled. The problems with these so-called remedies should be immediately obvious to the stone sufferer. First, if these preparations worked, then why has modern medicine failed to adopt them? Contrary to popular belief, neither your physician nor the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have a vested interest in continuing to see you suffer. If these preparations worked, they would already be in the process of clinical trial. The hawkers of these remedies often mention that these preparations are not drugs, but rather natural substances not regulated by the FDA. If that were the case, your urologist would be all over these “cures”.

The most obvious tell, however, is the fact that these supposed cures are not cures at all, but rather solutions after a stone has already formed. Even if they worked, you would still have to experience the agony of that stone until the healing relief of the potion kicked in. Given that we know that stones are formed from minerals and are literally small rocks, common sense should prevail over the claim that some natural potion will dissolve these small rocks into slush. Further, these so-called cures do not address the most important issue, which is how can we prevent stones from forming in the first place. Why would you be satisfied only with resolving a very real problem that you already have? We should all be much more interested in doing whatever is necessary to ensure that the problem does not occur.

Until next time...cheers!

So, You've Had Kidney Stones Too...

Like the Kennedy assassination, the landing on the moon, the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan show, or the destruction of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, everyone who has had a kidney stone remembers exactly where they were and what they were doing when they experienced the agony of that first stone. If you are at all like me, it was a life-altering event.

Maybe that first stone was the only one you have had; however, it is much more likely that you have experienced that excruciating pain and terror on multiple occasions and you live in constant fear that it will occur again. In the immortal words of our 42^nd President, “I feel your pain.”

It is virtually impossible to fully describe the process of managing and passing a kidney stone to someone who has not had this experience. Every adjective available has been used, but none quite fit the bill. To say that having a kidney stone is similar to the pain of labor and delivery for a pregnant woman does both the pregnant woman and the kidney sufferer a disservice as each is quite different and unique in its own right.

Kidney stone sufferers learn to redefine their own concept of pain. Over the past 15-20 years, physicians and hospital emergency rooms have attempted to standardize the concept of pain through the use of the 10-point “smiley face” pain scale. Since there is nothing beyond “10”, most kidney sufferers understand a “10” to be the pain they experience during the roughest parts of the kidney stone process. Consequently, while we may suffer significant pain from other conditions, illnesses, or accidents, rarely can we describe that pain much higher than a “5” or “6” on the pain scale. In other words, the pain of say, a broken leg for a non-kidney stone sufferer may rate a “10” for them; but it is highly unlikely that anyone having experienced a kidney stone will rate that same pain much higher than “6” when comparing this pain to that experienced during a kidney stone episode.

This blog is the companion to my forthcoming book "Knock Out Kidney Stones...Forever: The Stone Sufferers Guide to Eliminating Stones and Stone Pain." Check back with us regularly for up-to-the-minute research, information on clinical trials, information on kidney stones in general and "stuff" just for fun.

I would like to encourage your to join our blog and post your comments and or questions. I will do my best to respond to as many posts as I can. Maybe you have new information that would be of help to all of us; maybe you'd like to share a personal experience. Like it or not, we are all a member of an exclusive club that people who haven't had a stone just can't quite understand. When we speak with another stone sufferer, we know exactly what language they are speaking - because we've been there. So join, share your thoughts, and share the blog with others you know. I'd like you to think of this as your blog, and I look forward to making new friends and learning new things.

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Until next time...Cheers!