A good reason to stay hydrated after your weight loss surgery -- a study shows that you have nearly double the risk of developing the painful little buggers post-operatively. If you haven't had the pleasure of a kidney stone -- it's akin to giving birth to a walnut through your urethra. Fun times. No, really, what are the symptoms?
http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/stonesadults/index.htm
Kidney stones often do not cause any symptoms. Usually, the first symptom of a kidney stone is extreme pain, which begins suddenly when a stone moves in the urinary tract and blocks the flow of urine. Typically, a person feels a sharp, cramping pain in the back and side in the area of the kidney or in the lower abdomen. Sometimes nausea and vomiting occur. Later, pain may spread to the groin.
If the stone is too large to pass easily, pain continues as the muscles in the wall of the narrow ureter try to squeeze the stone into the bladder. As the stone moves and the body tries to push it out, blood may appear in the urine, making the urine pink. As the stone moves down the ureter, closer to the bladder, a person may feel the need to urinate more often or feel a burning sensation during urination.
If fever and chills accompany any of these symptoms, an infection may be present. In this case, a person should contact a doctor immediately.
Patients who underwent a popular form of weight loss surgery developed kidney stones, a painful and recurring condition, at almost double the rate of obese patients who didn’t have the operation, according to one of the largest studies to examine the rate of complications from bariatric surgery.
The study:
Recent studies have demonstrated that mineral and electrolyte abnormalities develop in patients who undergo bariatric surgery. While it is known that these abnormalities are a risk factor for urolithiasis, the prevalence of stone disease after bariatric surgery is unknown. We evaluated the likelihood of being diagnosed with or treated for an upper urinary tract calculus following Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery.
Materials and Methods
We identified 4,639 patients who underwent Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery and a control group of 4,639 obese patients who did not have surgery in a national private insurance claims database in a 5-year period (2002 to 2006). All patients had at least 3 years of continuous claims data. Our 2 primary outcomes were the diagnosis and the surgical treatment of a urinary calculus.
Results
After Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery 7.65% (355 of 4,639) of patients were diagnosed with urolithiasis compared to 4.63% (215 of 4,639) of obese patients in the control group (p <0.0001). Subjects in the treatment cohort more commonly underwent shock wave lithotripsy (81 [1.75%] vs 19 [0.41%], p <0.0001) and ureteroscopy (98 [2.11%] vs 27 [0.58%], p <0.0001). Logistic regression demonstrated that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery was a significant predictor of being diagnosed with a urinary calculus (OR 1.71, CI 1.44–2.04) as well as undergoing a surgical procedure (OR 3.65, CI 2.60–5.14).
Conclusions
Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery is associated with an increased risk of kidney stone disease and kidney stone surgery in the postoperative period. Clinicians should be aware of this hazard and inform patients of this potential complication. Future studies are needed to evaluate preventive measures in the high risk population.
In many cases, you can prevent kidney stones by making a few lifestyle changes. If these measures aren't effective and blood and urine tests reveal a correctable chemical imbalance or that the stones you have are getting bigger, your doctor may prescribe certain medications.
Lifestyle changes
For people with a history of
kidney stones, doctors usually recommend passing at least 2.5 quarts
(2.3 liters) of urine a day. To do this, you'll need to drink about 14
cups (3.3 liters) of fluids every day — and even more if you live in a
hot, dry climate.
What should you drink? Water is best. Include a glass of lemonade every day, too. Make your own with real lemons, or use a liquid or frozen concentrate, but avoid powdered lemonade mixes. Lemonade increases the levels of citrate in your urine, and citrate helps prevent stone formation.
In addition, if you tend to form calcium oxalate stones, your doctor may recommend restricting foods rich in oxalates. These include rhubarb, star fruit, beets, beet greens, collards, okra, refried beans, spinach, Swiss chard, sweet potatoes, sesame seeds, almonds and soy products. What's more, studies show that an overall diet low in salt and very low in animal protein can greatly reduce your chance of developing kidney stones.
As a general rule, restricting your intake of calcium doesn't seem to lower your risk. In fact, researchers have found that women with a high calcium intake are less likely to develop kidney stones than are women who consume less calcium. Why? Dietary calcium binds with oxalates in the gastrointestinal tract so that oxalates can't be absorbed from the intestine and excreted by the kidney to form stones.
An exception to this rule occurs when an individual absorbs too much dietary calcium from the intestine. In such a circumstance, restricting calcium intake is useful.
Calcium supplements seem to have the same protective effect as dietary calcium, but only if they're taken with meals.
