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Q:
My father (46 years old) has kidney stone for many years and it is now very serious. There are multiple stones in his kidneys and the largest one measures about 10mm*17mm. He also has slight hydronephrosis and his urine is sometimes red. I want to know what should my father eat and what should he not. He has had both Chinese medicines and western medicines treatments and he also received the surgery of laser gravel, but the stone can not be cured.
A:
Kidney stone is a benign renal disorder; however large stones can obstruct the urinary tract and block urination. Patients can have back and abdominal pain, hydronephrosis and in severe conditions cause uremia or even tumor. As for the causes of kidney stone, there are many reasons including hereditary factors, metabolism, infections, environment, diets and medicines, etc. Blood in urine is one common symptom in kidney stone and about 80% cases will have hematuria. However only small parts can see the urine is red and the majority can only be detected through examination. When the stone is large enough, it will obstruct the renal pelvis and ureter and cause hydronephrosis. Long term hydronephrosis can damaged the involved kidney and if hydronephrosis occurs in both the two kidneys, it might even lead to renal failure. As for the proper daily diets, it has slight differences according to the components of the stone; therefore patients should take related test to make clear its components. For example, if it is calcium oxalate stone, patients should avoid or at least limit the intake of foods that easily produce oxalic acid such as spinach, amaranth, water convolvulus, mustard, etc and avoid large intake of vitamin C. Generally speaking, patients should have more water. It is recommended that kidney stone patients should have more than 4000ml water per day and maintain more than 1500ml urine output. You said your father has taken western and Chinese medicines. How is the effect? Chinese medicines such as some herbal medicines are good at treating kidney stone, but it takes relatively long time to take effects, so patients should have more patience and adhere to the treatments and medicines prescribed by the doctors. As you said that your father’s condition is serious now, therefore only diet is far from enough and he needs to receive systemic and scientific treatments.
