Experts say that as a common disease of the urinary system, although the specific cause of kidney stones is not yet clear, dietary adjustments and drinking plenty of water, especially drinking two glasses of water before bedtime, can play a very good preventive role.
Kidney stones in adults mostly occur in young and middle-aged people aged 20-40, with slightly more males than females. The specific pathogenesis is unclear and is related to factors such as genetics, diet, and metabolism. Stones in the urinary system are generally divided into upper urinary tract stones (kidney, ureteral stones) and lower urinary tract stones (bladder, urethral stones). In recent years, the incidence of bladder stones has decreased rapidly, but the number of patients with kidney stones has significantly increased.
Experts explain that for children with stones smaller than 4mm and adults with stones smaller than 7mm, they can theoretically be expelled through conservative treatment. When the stone is larger than this diameter, it can only be removed through surgical intervention, such as extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy, surgical stone removal, etc. Among them, extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy breaks large stones into small stones, which are then excreted through urine. Therefore, for people with stones smaller than 3mm, no hydronephrosis, and no ureteral malformation, drinking plenty of water and appropriate traditional Chinese medicine for stone removal are more effective conservative treatment methods.
Many people are accustomed to drinking a glass of water when they wake up in the morning, which is very helpful for the body's metabolism and speeding up the excretion of metabolic waste produced at night. However, few people develop the habit of drinking water before bedtime, believing it will cause nocturnal urination and affect sleep. In fact, drinking two glasses of water before bedtime is a more effective method to prevent stones and avoid their enlargement. Experts explain that the excretion of stone components mostly peaks at night, creating a higher chance of stone formation. Drinking water before bedtime can dilute the stone components in the blood. It has been observed that if a person's daily urine volume is less than 1000ml, the incidence of stones increases; if the daily urine volume reaches more than 2000ml, it can prevent the occurrence and recurrence of stones.
The main components of human urinary tract stones are calcium oxalate, calcium phosphate, uric acid, magnesium ammonium phosphate, cystine, etc., of which about 80% are calcium-containing stones, with calcium oxalate being the most common. The formation of kidney stones is closely related to diet. If the intake of related stone-forming components in the diet is too high, it may cause kidney stones. For example, an increase in the intake of spinach can cause healthy people to have hyperoxaluria, leading to the occurrence of oxalate stones; while animal offal, roe, quail, etc., have high purine content, and excessive consumption can easily form uric acid stones.