Kidneys should be monitored for Symptomatic stones after 40 years

HYDERABAD: The increased use of CT scans and ultrasounds are helping to identify kidney stones that are symptomatic in nature.

Symptomatic kidney stones are those which are not painful but slowly develop inside the kidney. An individual who has stones will not have any symptoms of pain or recurrent urinary tract infections or even difficulty while urinating.

Dr G.P. Srinivas, urologist, explained that symptomatic kidney stones are identified in those who come for health check ups or patients with co-morbid conditions such as diabetes and hypertension.

“These people are being identified with the disease early. There is still a vast majority of patients who come to the clinics only when there is pain or problems of infections in the urinary tract,” he said.

The prevalence of chronic kidney disease is as high as 10 per cent in India. With screening being seen as a tool to check and prevent the development of stones and also failure of the kidney, experts state that early diagnosis can go a long way.

The functioning of kidney has to be monitored after 40 years of age where research has found that its functioning slows down by one per cent in every advancing year.

Dr R. Shekar, nephrologist, explained that higher intake of calcium supplements are found to cause kidney stones. “The condition was earlier seen between 30 to 50 years of age in adults. But now we are seeing it as early as in 20 years also.

These are patients who come with problems of pain. The others who are identified with the disease during health check-ups are counselled and later evaluated,” he said.