Kidneys are one of the important organs of the body. It is the kidneys that remove extra water and wastes from the blood, converting it to urine. They also keep a stable balance of salts and other substances in the blood. The kidneys produce hormones that help build strong bones and help form red blood cells. The common ailments of kidneys are kidney stones and kidney cancer. Both the problems are remarkably dangerous and problematic ones.
A kidney stone is a hard deposit or crystal that is highly problematic. Kidney stones are mostly built up from crystals that separate from the urine and build up on the inner surfaces of the kidney. Kidney stones are made of salts and minerals in the urine that stick together to form small “pebbles." They are usually painless while they remain in the kidney, but they can cause severe pain as they break loose and travel through narrow tubes (ureters) to exit the body during urination.
Kidney stones may contain various combinations of chemicals. The most common type of stone contains calcium in combination with either oxalate or phosphate. These chemicals are part of a person’s normal diet and make up important parts of the body, such as bones and muscles.
It has been seen that the number of persons falling pray to kidney stones have been increasing over the past 20 years. It has been stated that the whites are getting more prone to this ailment as compared to the black people. Future it has been stated that men are more prone to kidney stones as compare to the women.
Kidney cancer is not so common ailment in comparison to kidney stones. Kidney cancer tends to appear in adults in middle ages usually after 50 years of age. Kidney cancer strikes twice often in men as compared to women. Kidney cancers are of two types: those that arise from the substance of the kidney and those which arise from the system in the kidney which collects urine. The treatment of localized kidney cancer is surgical excision. The type and extent of surgery is determined by the type of tumor, its location and its size.
The most common type of kidney cancer occurs in the part of the kidney that filters blood and produces the urine. This type of kidney cancer is called renal cell cancer, or renal cell carcinoma. Another type of adult kidney cancer is a tumor which arises in the part of the kidney where the urine collects. This type of kidney cancer is called transitional cell carcinoma. The most frequent sign of kidney cancer in adults is blood in the urine.
Kidney stone is a quite popular disease these days. The recent study undertaken in the United States confirmed that the kidney stone has been on increase from over 30 years it further tells that the risk of kidney stones much higher in obese people. The study confirms that this disease has rose from 3.8 percent in the late 1970s to 5.2 percent in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
It is not amazing to find out that the White Americans are more prone to the disease than the Africans Americans. Moreover occurrences are more common in men in comparison to the other sex. In men, the prevalence of the kidney stone rises dramatically in the age group of 40 to 70s. For women the occurrence is more common in their 50s. The study points out one more point that once a person gets a problem, the risk of occurrence gets higher than others.
A study revealed that out of 4,827 kidney stones patients majority of them had high weight or were obese and had BMI. The study showed a close relation and strong link between kidney stones, weight gain and BMI. People were twice as likely to get kidney stones if they had gained more than 35 pounds since they were 18-21 years old or if they had a BMI of 30 or more.
Overweight and obesity are strongly associated with an elevated risk of stone formation in both genders due to an increased urinary excretion of promoters but not inhibitors of calcium oxalate stone formation. Overweight and obese men are more prone to stone formation than overweight women as found out by the detailed study and research undertaken by a various departments of the University of Bonn, Germany.
Researchers are of the view that the larger body size results in increased urinary excretion of calcium and uric acid which results in higher risk of kidney stones. A study was undertaken by Eric N. Taylor, M.D., of Brigham and Women’s hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, and colleagues to determine if weight, weight gain, body mass index (BMI), and waist circumference are associated kidney stone formation. It is not at all amazing to know that there is a strong correlation with excess body weight and kidney stones. It is found out that the greater the people’s waist circumference the higher is the risk of the disease as the abdominal fat has been seen to play a major role and serious effects on kidney stones.
The researchers also found out that after adjusting for age, dietary factors, fluid intake, and thiazide use; people more than 220 Ibs had a 44 % increased risk of developing kidney stones than those who weight less than 150 Ibs. It is found that the accumulation of fat interferes with ability of the body to use insulin that results in favoring the growth of kidney stones. It is interesting to know that the women who tends to gain more than 16 kgs after the age of 21 are seen at 82 % higher risk of the disease in comparison to others; similarly in case of men those who gain the same amount of weight in adulthood are seen 40% rise in risk of the disease in comparison to others.
Hey! that does not really mean that you should stop eating in order to be on safer side rather it means eat healthy but don’t over do it so that you put on so much that you become obese. As obesity is not the only cause of kidney stones and remaining slim wont help so eat healthy and live healthy.
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