without looking it up, i believe they are often (but not exclusively??) caused by excessive calcium and other minerals in your drinking water. People who live in different parts of the country are more succeptible because the mineral components in water are different in different places. A water softener can help reduce the chances of kidney stones. Drinking only bottled water helps also, but tap water is also used for cooking and making things like stew and soup. Now someone will look it up and tell me if I am right or an idiot.
For inside the house we use those five gallons of water, with that big thing that makes it cold (not sure what they call it). We never drink tap water, only for boiling water for tea, etc. (things of that nature) So do you have that water softener Dumpy?
Water softeners don't seem to be too common in the mid-atlantic where I have lived most of my life, but they seem to be more standard in Florida where I live now. I live in a house that was built roughly five years ago, and it seems like it was installed by the builders. So yes, I have one, but am not really sure how it works or what it does. Every so often it starts to beep and I am supposed to add salt to it. That reminds me, I need to buy more salt for it, we're running low.
First time I'm hearing about it. Very interesting. So the 5 gallons of water we use that should be safe right? (its poland spring)
I think so, but a quick internet search should clear it up. I have a water cooler too. this is what one site says--it doesn't mention the water What causes kidney stones? In most people the underlying cause isn't known. Some people with kidney stones have lower levels of citrate in their urine, which usually stops the stones forming. Different kinds of kidney stones form from different salts in the urine. Calcium stones are the most common type of kidney stone. They are either spiky or large and smooth, and are made up of calcium oxalate or calcium phosphate. Calcium stones are more common in people who have excess levels of vitamin D or who have an overactive parathyroid gland. People who have medical conditions such as cancer, some kidney diseases, or a disease called sarcoidosis are also more likely to develop calcium stones. Uric acid stones are smooth, brown and soft. Excess amounts of uric acid can be caused by eating a lot of meat. Conditions such as gout and treatments such as chemotherapy can also increase the risk of getting uric acid stones. Struvite stones (infection stones) are usually large and have a horn-like shape. They develop when there is too much ammonia in the urine. This can happen if you have a urinary tract infection (UTI), because the bacteria that cause these infections can generate ammonia. This kind of kidney stone is most often found in women. Cystine stones are yellow and crystalline. They develop if you have high levels of cystine in your urine, which happens if you have a hereditary disorder called cystinuria. Only one in a hundred kidney stones are caused by this condition. Cystine stones tend to develop earlier in life than other kidney stones, usually between the ages of 10 and 30 years. Who gets kidney stones? Men are more prone than women, and around half of all people who have previously had a kidney stone will develop another one within five years. Other risk factors include: a family history of kidney stones being aged between 20 and 40 taking certain medicines such as diuretics (water tablets), antacids and thyroid medications having only one kidney, or an abnormally shaped kidney eating a diet high in protein being regularly dehydrated having very poor mobility (eg, being confined to bed) having a disease of the small intestine or a small intestinal bypass
^ Thanks for the info Dumpy. Here is a pic of a kidney stone I found on the internet. My brother's just came out about 40 minutes ago, he didn't have any pain, which was good news, probably the percoset helped. About the picture, his was half of the size you see on this pic. Now he has to take it to the urology center at the same hospital and they'll do tests to see what kind it was and what's the likelihood of getting another one in the coming years.
I'm sorry you feel secure enough to look at a kidney stone w/o feeling some kind of death. i keed, but daam, kidney stones are not cool
