Tips to get rid of kidney stones

The intensity of the pain that comes on when a small stone (calculus) tries to make its way through the urinary tract cannot be described in simple words. Severe, excruciating, gut wrenching are just some words that can come near to describing this pain. You can avoid this pain by knowing why renal calculi are formed and what you can do to prevent them.

Renal calculi are deposits of small, hard particles formed inside your kidneys. The stones are mainly composed of minerals and acid salts. Often, they are formed when the urine becomes too concentrated, allowing minerals and salts to crystallize and stick together.

Types of stones:

Calculi are broadly classified into two major groups, radio-opaque and radiolucent. Radio-opaque calculi are visible on standard x-rays while radiolucent calculi can not be detected on standard x-rays. They are visible only on CT Scans. The examples of radio-opaque calculus are Calcium Oxalate, Calcium Phosphate and Struvite calculi. Common radiolucent calculi include Uric Acid, Triamterene and Xanthine stones.

What symptoms may be present when one has renal calculi?

• Pain that radiates to the groins
• Pain that comes in waves
• Pain while passing urine
• Pink or red urine
• Cloudy urine
• Difficulty passing urine

Simple tips to prevent kidney stones:

• The most effective non-medication therapy for this problem is increasing fluid intake. If you live in a dry and hot climate or if you exercise frequently, you should drink even more water to produce a sufficient amount of urine. The best way to know if you are drinking enough water is to check the appearance of your urine. If it is clear and light, you’re drinking enough water.

• Medical experts advise patients to decrease their protein intake because excess proteins in the body can contribute to calcium based and uric acid stones. It is best to limit the intake to maximum 8 ounces of pork, beef, poultry or fish per day.

• Most patients stop consuming foods containing calcium. However, it has been proved that calcium in food does not affect your risk of calculi. So, you can continue eating calcium-rich foods. But, you should avoid taking calcium supplements when not required otherwise.

• Decrease your intake of Oxalate especially if you have a tendency to form calcium oxalate stones. Oxalate rich foods include rhubarb, beets, spinach, chocolate, tea and peanuts. 
  

Drugs that prevent kidney calculus:

Passing kidney stones in urine can be unbearably painful. Depending on the composition of the calculus, you may need to take medications like Zyloprim. This medication contains allopurinol and works by preventing the production of uric acid.

Patients are usually prescribed Zyloprim in a dose of 200 to 300 mg per day. You should consult your doctor to know the right dose suitable for your specific condition.

If you have someone close in your family with a history of renal calculi, you have more chances of developing it. Dietary modifications and oral medications like Zyloprim can help reduce or eliminate the chance of this condition.

 

Epilepsy in relation to sports and other activities

Most patients with epilepsy worry that they will not be able to play sports or live a normal life. Even parents of children with epilepsy have the mistaken impression that sports can be dangerous for their child. But sports and other physical activities are an important part of our lives and there is no hard and fast rule that patients with this disease should not engage in such activities. They only need to take some precautions, keeping in mind the possible dangerous consequences.

Epilepsy (also called seizures or convulsions) is caused by electrical disturbances occurring in the brain. Partial seizures, also called focal seizures, occur when the electrical disturbance remains in a limited part of the brain. The partial convulsions sometimes turn into generalized seizures, affecting the whole brain.

Key Things about Partial Seizures

•    They usually don’t last longer than a minute or two
•    They affect only one side or part of the body such as the legs, the hands or the face
•    They end naturally
•    You can’t stop them

What are the characteristic symptoms of partial convulsions?

•    Abnormal muscle twitching
•    Turning head sideways
•    Staring spells
•    Forced turning of the head
•    Sweating
•    Dilated pupils
•    Flushed face
•    Rapid pulse

Epilepsy and outdoor activities:

•    Patients with epilepsy have to take a few extra precautions to ensure their safety, especially while being around heights and water. Climbing a ladder or a tree can be dangerous for these patients. The general advice is that they should avoid these activities if it’s above their head level.

•    For most nervous and overcautious patients, boating and swimming seem out of the question. But, as long as there is a lifeguard in the pool to supervise, these activities should be okay. When on boats, they should wear a life jacket compulsorily even if they know swimming.

Step back sometimes:

Parents of children with epilepsy usually do not like the idea of their child engaging in sports, or trying out for the basketball team. But being so overprotective is unfair to the child as it restricts his or her options. Such restrictions can be more damaging for the child, psychologically and socially, than the epilepsy itself. Hence, it is necessary to step back sometimes and let them do what they like, while taking the necessary precautions.

Treatment for better control and safety:

Taking medications like Trileptal is a great way for seizure treatment. The oxcarbazepine contained in this medicine helps control seizures by stabilizing electrical activity in the brain.

The usual prescribed dose of Trileptal is 300 mg, twice a day. Patients aged 2 to 16 years can be started on a daily dose of 8 to10 mg per kg weight. Patients are advised to consult their doctor to know the exact dose.

Having a seizure on the playing field is not dangerous, although it can be embarrassing. But experiencing an attack while rock-climbing could be fatal! But, if you are using the right medicines such as Trileptal, your seizures will be under control and the risks on the field will be reduced.