Kidney stones are incredibly painful to endure and recover from, causing significant discomfort. During my career caring for patients, those afflicted with kidney stones unfortunately stand out due to the unique level of suffering they experience. 

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Alarmingly, stone events are becoming more common over time. About 1 in 10 Americans will have a kidney stone during his or her lifetime. This process leads to 2 million visits to the doctor each year and 600,000 visits to the ER each year. This creates many burdens both on the individual who is suffering and society as a whole. 

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To patients, kidney stones are:

Costly

• Diagnosis, treatment, prevention, and lost time from work costs almost $5.3 billion each year

Painful

• Often described as the worst pain experienced by my patients 

Linked to declines in other general health parameters 

• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Metabolic disease

A Chronic Disease

• CDC defines a chronic disease as “conditions that last one year or more and require ongoing medical attention or limit activities of daily living or both.”

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Kidney stones occur when high levels of dissolved salts and minerals form within the urine as stones/rocks.  Stones are typically composed of:

-Calcium (most common types, 80% of stones)

• Calcium oxalate
• Calcium phosphate

-Uric acid (5 to 10% of stones)

• Can relate to gout

-Struvite / Infection stones (10% of stones)

-Cysteine (<1% of stones) 

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Stones can travel within the urinary system causing blockages to flow. This will typically manifest as a combination of the following symptoms:

• Sharp, intense pain in the back, flank, or side
• Pain in the lower abdomen, groin, testicles, and genitals
• Rhythmic pain that comes in waves (often intense pain that is described as being the “worst pain” a patient has ever experienced)
• Nausea and vomiting
• Intense need or feel to urinate
• Urinating more frequently
• Dark or red urine

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These severe symptoms typically prompt an urgent visit to a doctor’s office or the emergency room. Our modern healthcare system is proficient in treating these acute stone events, allowing the patient to get out of immediate pain and danger. Our current system does not typically do a good job of chronically managing and/or preventing kidney stones (reference my practical example here).HolSpan strives to do something about that.

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Witnessing patients suffer from repeated stone episodes was a major contributing factor to creating the HolSpan outreach. A holistic approach with an emphasis on broader wellness needs to be better communicated to patients and the public at large. Holspan seeks to do that while helping to minimize suffering.

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Sources:

• American Urological Association (AUA). (n.d.). Kidney Stones Patient Guide. Urology Health Foundation. [Online]. Available at: Link to the article