If Your Urine Looks Like This, See Your Doctor Immediately

In the 1970s, less than 4 percent of Americans had suffered from kidney stones. By the 1990s, this had increased to more than 5 percent. Today, with rates continuing to rise, kidney stones will impact one in 10 US adults at some point during their lives — usually between the ages of 20 and 50. In most cases, kidney stones pass without causing lasting damage, but the pain during passing can be excruciating. Kidney stones are also sometimes associated with lower back pain, stomach pain, nausea or vomiting, fever, and chills. Generally, the larger the stone, the more pain and symptoms it will cause. Sometimes aggressive treatments are needed to clear the stones, and each year, more than half a million people go to US emergency rooms due to kidney stones. Once you’ve had them, your risk of recurrence increases. About 35 percent to 50 percent of people will have another bout with kidney stones within five years unless changes are made. What type of changes? According to new guidelines issued by the American College of Physicians (ACP), one of the simplest strategies you can take is to drink more water. Staying Hydrated Lowers Your Risk of Recurrent Kidney Stones The number one risk factor for kidney stones is not drinking enough water. If you aren’t drinking enough, your urine will have higher concentrations of substances that can precipitate out and form stones. Specifically, stone-forming chemicals include calcium, oxalate, urate, cysteine, xanthine, and phosphate. These chemicals should be eliminated in your urine via your kidney, but if too little liquid is present, they can join together to form a stone. According to the National Kidney Foundation: “Urine has various wastes dissolved in it. When there is too much waste in too little liquid, crystals begin to form. The crystals attract other elements and join together to form a solid that will get larger unless it is passed out of the body with the urine… In most people, having enough liquid washes them out or other chemicals in urine stop a stone from forming.” The new ACP guidelines call for people who have had a kidney stone in the past to increase their fluid intake so they have at least two liters of urine per day, which they say could decrease stone recurrence by at least half. To achieve this, they recommend increased fluid intake spread throughout the day, pointing out that both water and mineral water are beneficial.