Pathophysiology: Urolithiasis, commonly known as the kidney stone disease occurs when a solid piece of material (stone) is formed along the urinary tract. These solids are generally formed when there is a higher mineral concentration in the urine. When urine becomes hyper-saturated i.e it contains more solute than solvent, the crystal forming substances in urine (carcinogenic substances) like uric acid, calcium oxalate, and triple phosphate can initiate crystal formation. A tiny stone may simply pass in the urine without any trouble but larger stones (over 5 millimeters) can block the ureter causing excruciating pain in the lower back and abdomen. In some cases, blood may ooze out from urine along with vomiting and pain. The pain of kidney stones has often been compared to the pain of childbirth
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Risk factors & treatment: About 15% of the global population is affected by this condition of which at least 1 million cases are reported in India every year. Although it can occur at any age it is the most common after 40 years onwards. And about 50% of people diagnosed with it are likely to have a relapse. Besides genetics and environmental factors, things like obesity, high fat or calcium intake and hyperthyroidism are all crucial risk factors for kidney stones. The size of the stone matters in the treatment which can be ranged from pain control to the surgical removal of the stones. There is, however, a newly emerging therapy to prevent and/or delay stone formation (in the affected individuals), this is called as the lemonade therapy, yes you heard it right, lemonade therapy!
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Home remedy: The therapy simply involves drinking four ounces of reconstituted lemon juice in two liters of water per day. According to a recent study from the Kidney Stone Center at Duke University, it was found that 11 people who had kidney stones had significantly lower rate of stone formation than before taking this therapy. The improvements were so robust that none of these candidates required any medical intervention since. So what is exactly happening in their bodies?!?!? The magical ingredient here is citrate. Citrate is a chelating agent which inhibits growth, aggregation and the formation of calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate stones by binding to these metals. Although a synthetic drug may also provide citrate, this therapy naturally provides both water (to prevent hyper-saturation of urine) and citrate (to inhibit stone formation) and thus the results are astounding with no side effects.
Reference:
www.informationng.com/2017/07/sweet-relief-kidney-stones.html
