“You should drink beer to help with your kidney stones” This is something most of you must have heard from your friends and family after getting diagnosed with kidney stones. However, drinking beer to help with kidney stones is not scientifically proven by doctors, says a nephrologist in Delhi at Madhuban Kidney Care.
Most of the patients self-medicate without consulting the doctors, further deteriorating the pain and the condition of their kidney stones. Everyone has their theories, so let us look at some myths, facts, precautions, and advice associated with beer helping with kidney stones.
What is a kidney stone?
Kidney stones are solid deposits of minerals and acid salts. They can be uncomfortable going through the urinary tract but seldom cause permanent harm. Kidney stones harm parts of the urinary tract, including kidneys and bladder. Stones develop when urine gets concentrated and cling together as minerals.
You need to consult a kidney specialist doctor to get treatment and reduce the risk of your kidney stones if they are recurring.
What causes kidney stones?
Kidney stones do not have a single cause. However, the factors that cause risk are as follows:
- Diet: Consuming foods rich in minerals such as calcium and uric acid, for example, excessive salt intake, chocolates, spinach, and more.
- Medical condition: Any medical problem like hyperparathyroidism, urinary tract infections, inflammatory bowel disease, and cystic kidney disease, makes more people likely to develop kidney stones.
- Obesity: Overweight or obese disturbs body’s metabolic processes, resulting in a higher production of chemicals causing kidney stones.
Is Beer really good for kidney stone
Drinking beer is said to be one of the possible home remedies for kidney stones, but it can also be severely painful. Let’s look at facts and refute the myths about drinking beer for kidney stones. Let us learn how beer is not the solution and some myths associated with the same.
Facts
Continuous beer consumption cause dehydration, increasing the risk of kidney stones.
Beer consumption has a risk of obesity. While it is not confirmed that consuming beer causes kidney stones, there is evidence that it have an indirect influence on the disease.
Uric acid is known to regulate uric acid levels in the body, raising the risk of kidney stones.
Myths vs reality
Is beer good for kidney stone? Beer helps in excreting stones.
Beer is a diuretic drug, and it helps you urinate more, which excretes tiny stones. However, stones larger than 5 mm cannot be excreted out of the body in this manner since the exit passage is only around 3mm wide.
Beer produces more urine and beer may not be good for kidney stone.
If you drink beer while you are in pain or unable to pass urine, it might make your situation worse since the beer produces more urine that you cannot expel, making it more painful.
Drinking beer causes no harm to the body.
Prolonged use of beer can result in excessive oxalates (a component of kidney stones) and dehydration. Beer includes alcohol, which can damage your liver.
Symptoms of kidney stone
A kidney stone does not produce symptoms until it travels around the kidney or enters one of the ureters. The following symptoms are possible to be found:
- Severe, low pain in the side and back below the ribcage.
- Pain spreads to the lower abdomen and groin.
- Pain that comes in waves with varying intensity.
- Pain or burning feeling during urinating.
- A persistent urge to urinate, urinating more frequently than normal, or urinating in small amounts.
- Nausea and vomiting.
Signs of kidney stones in Urine
- Red, pink, or brown Urine
- Cloudy urine
- Foul-smelling urine
Pain produced by a kidney stone vary in intensity as the stone moves through your urinary tract.
Kidney stones treatment in Delhi
Treatment for kidney stones varies on the size of the stone and the intensity of the pain. There are methods to get rid of kidney stones. Let us read in brief about both procedures.
- Medicines: Urologists prescribe pain relieving medicines, with some stones excreting medicines.
- Lithotripsy: Advanced extracorporeal lithotripsy is a breakthrough that allows stones to be removed from the kidney and urinary tract without the need for open surgery. The shock waves generated during the treatment shatter the stone into several little bits that may be readily excreted in urine.
Stone removal surgery
Laser surgery for stones: Stones such as kidney stones can be removed with laser surgery with no cuts or stitches. Lasers are utilised to shatter the stone, which may then be passed through urine.
Madhuban Kidney Care offers an affordable laser and lithotripsy treatment at their hospital to ensure quick and painless removal of kidney stones.
When and whom to consult?
Get medical assistance from top nephrologist and urologist:
- Pain so intense that you can’t sit still or find a comfortable posture.
- Pain followed by nausea and vomiting.
- Pain accompanied by fever and chills.
- Blood in the urine.
- Having difficulty passing urine.
If you experience any symptoms, consult the best hospital for kidney stone surgery to get immediate help without worsening the condition. Drinking alcohol can have a bad influence on your kidneys’ health and increase the chance of getting kidney stones. There is no evidence that beer may remove kidney stones or prevent their recurrence.