What are the Different Types of Kidney Stones?

Kidney stones are substance in excess that are not flushed out of the system through urine that gets collected in the kidney.  These substance form crystals and harden into stones.  There a four different types of kidney stones based on the chemical composition.

First type of kidney stone is the calcium type.  Calcium builds up in the human body due to excessive intake of calcium through food and vitamins.  After calcium is absorbed by the bones the excess calcium is excreted through the urine.  There are instances wherein excess calcium combines with other substances such as oxalate and phosphate to form calcium oxalate and calcium phosphate stones.  Calcium stones are the most common type of kidney stone.

A cystine stone are another type of kidney stone and is a rare hereditary disease.  Cystine stones are formed because of genetic abnormality.  Amino acids are needed to produce protein.  However because of defective genes, amino acids are not absorbed properly by the kidneys.  These unabsorbed amino acids form cystine stones.

Struvite stones are another type of kidney stones.  Also known as infection stones because they primarily occur due to urinary tract infections.  These stones grow faster and dwell in large parts of the kidney.  Antibiotics may help in alleviating struvite stones, but this infection stone is still common in 20% of kidney stone sufferers.

The bacteria producing urinary tract infections and thereby struvite stones are proteus and klebsiella.  Conditions that cause struvite stones or infections stones have the ability to produce ammonia which will is a factor struvite formation.  Since the bladder has some stagnant urine, the risk of bacteria increasing is more.

Uric acid stones are another type of kidney stones.  Excessive uric acid in the urine forms uric acid stones.   When there is excessive purine production in the system, uric acid stones are formed.  The excess uric acid gets lodged on the inner walls of the kidney that form uric acid stones.  Uric acid stones are frequently associated with diseases such as gout.

The sizes and shapes of the kidney stones vary from person to person.  It does not look like a smooth, round ball.  The shape is irregular. The size may vary from millimetres to centimetres. The color and texture also vary from person to person.

Now that you have an understanding of the different types of kidney stones, you may well be able to determine what type of treatment or prevention you need in order to stop kidney stones from growing or preventing them altogether.

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