If your kidneys are plagued by tiny, jagged orbs that cause blinding pain on their journey downward – better known as kidney stones – you’re not alone. According to 2012 figures from researchers at the University of California, rates of kidney stones have doubled since 1994, which makes kidney stones a more common wellness problem than heart disease, stroke, and diabetes. As new research from the Journal of Urology indicates that rates of these little nightmares aren’t going down anytime soon, it seems as though kidney stones will be a health concern for years to come.
For the Journal of Urology study, the researchers calculated many people who came in to emergency rooms between 2006 and 2009 were ultimately diagnosed with kidney stones. The number of kidney stone-related ER visit increased by 11% over the short study period, and kidney stones were found to be increasing in women significantly more so than men. In fact, the number of female kidney stone ER visits increased at double the male rate. According to lead study author Khurshid R. Ghani, MD, MS, FRCS, clinical assistant professor in the department of urology at the University of Michigan’s Ann Arbor VA Healthcare System, ‘There is a condition called metabolic syndrome, which is used to describe the condition when hypertension, obesity, and diabetes are preset in the same patient. This by far, in my opinion, is the major risk factor [for kidney stones].’
When your wellbeing is affected by kidney stones, this means that your body is not diluting the minerals and acid salts in your system with urine as it should, and therefore high concentrations of these minerals and salts form into the painful stones that you eventually pass through your urethra. Dr Ghani points out that, in general, you’re likely to have high concentrations of uric acid if you have diabetes, which puts you at a raised risk for stones. Moreover, if you also consume too much salt in your diet – which many people with hypertension do – this just compounds your high risk. Plus, a lack of exercise leads to crystallization of minerals in urine, and many people with metabolic syndrome or obesity lead sedentary lifestyles.
However, even though kidney stones seem like an inevitable outcome of metabolic syndrome, there are also environmental causes of the painful stones. Dr Ghani notes that some of these factors are more established scientifically than others, but they’re worth exploring if weight and other factors can’t explain away your kidney stones:
1. Living in the “Stone Belt”: In warmer parts of the country or in summer, kidney stones are more likely because heat is a major contributor to stone formation. Why? ‘In one word: dehydration,’ says Dr. Ghani. ‘Hot weather and poor fluid intake lead to urine formation that is “supersaturated” with crystals.’
2. Eating too much animal protein: When you eat animal protein, your body excretes more calcium which can lead to a build-up of the mineral in your system. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases states that animal proteins also reduce the levels of calcium-dissolving citrate in your urine.
3. Stress: In 2012, researchers from the University of Minnesota found that losing of a loved one, your job, or another major stressful event can indicate you’ll suffer from at least two kidney stones in one year – especially in women.
4. Not eating organic foods: Your biggest exposure to cadmium is through food, present as a contaminant from the phosphates used in synthetic fertilizers, and research shows that high urinary cadmium levels are associated with a 40% higher chance of developing kidney stones.
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