Urinary stones: Drinking is the best prevention

Larissa Melville completed her traineeship in the editorial team of . After studying biology at Ludwig Maximilians University and the Technical University of Munich, she first got to know digital media online at Focus and then decided to learn medical journalism from scratch.

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MunichOne in ten people in Germany will develop urinary stones in their lifetime - men significantly more often than women. The stones can be very painful and cause serious illnesses such as kidney failure. And even constrictions of the coronary arteries are associated with the annoying lumps. In addition, they are often stubborn and soon come back after being removed. But you can prevent them.

Urinary stones have become a widespread disease in the last few decades: the number of new cases in Germany has tripled since the 1980s. The recently published new guideline of the German Society for Urology on the diagnosis, therapy and aftercare of urinary stones attributes the increasing frequency to changed living conditions and eating habits.

Obesity and meat promote urinary stones

“The stones most often contain calcium oxalate and uric acid. These two substances are formed more often when eating the wrong diet (a lot of meat, few vegetables) and drinking too little, ”reports Thomas Knoll, chief physician at the Sindelfingen Clinic for Urology, to In addition, obesity and its secondary diseases such as diabetes and lipid metabolism disorders seem to favor education. "But advanced age and the male gender are also known risk factors," adds the expert.

Optimizing diagnostics, treatment and prevention

With modern medical diagnostics, urinary stones can be detected more often than before. However, some of these methods and therapies are getting on in years - the new guideline is intended to take into account the current state of science. Among other things, she questions the necessity of x-ray examinations that are harmful to radiation and instead encourages the use of ultrasound and computed tomography. She also tends to reject traditional operations and is in favor of endoscopic procedures.

Another focus of the guideline is aftercare, which, according to Knoll, is very important, but is often neglected. "Once the pain is gone, many people soon forget the urinary stones," says the expert. Without follow-up care, the risk of getting urinary stones again, depending on the type of stone, would be over 50 percent. Good aftercare significantly reduces this risk, emphasizes Knoll.

Medicines and a healthy lifestyle

The guideline generally advocates stone analysis. Because the further measures depend on the composition of the stones. In addition to a blood analysis, a 24-hour urine test is recommended for an extended metabolic investigation. "This enables the doctor to determine the salts that promote stone formation," explains Knoll.

Depending on the type of stone, drug therapy approaches could also be considered, for example to raise the urine pH value or to reduce calcium excretion, according to the urologist. But a healthy lifestyle also prevents urinary stones. Here are some tips:

• Drink enough water or tea (at least 2.5 liters) throughout the day. Avoid sugar-sweetened soft drinks - these increase the risk of stone formation.
• Eat a varied and balanced diet: Eat lots of vegetables, fruit and grain products and only a little meat.
• Exercise regularly.
• Try to keep your stress levels low.
• Try to maintain a normal, healthy weight.

Sources:

Press release of the German Society for Urology e.V. from June 18, 2015

S2k guideline on diagnosis, therapy and metaphylaxis of urolithiasis (043/025), 2015

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