The doctor dispelled the myth about the necessary amount of water for the body
Urolithiasis is detected in every third patient of a urologist. This common disease develops under the influence of many factors: hereditary predisposition, metabolic disorders, and drinking habits. An expert at the Hemotest laboratory, urologist Alexandra Startseva, told Izvestia on April 23 how much water per day you need to drink in order for your kidneys to work normally, and whether urolithiasis can be cured with mineral water.
According to her, up to 20% of the world's inhabitants, usually aged 40-50 years, experience symptoms of urolithiasis during their lifetime. In addition, men suffer from this disease three times more often than women. With urolithiasis, sand and stones are formed from crystallizing salts in the urinary system. Passing through the urinary tract, they can cause severe pain, but an established drinking regime reduces the risk of developing such a pathology.
"With a good drinking regime, the volume of urine increases, and the concentration of salts dissolved in it decreases. This reduces the likelihood of their crystallization and the formation of stones. In addition, with an increase in the volume of fluid, the bladder empties more often, urine does not stagnate, which also prevents the formation of stones and the development of infections," the doctor noted.
The urologist clarified that there are no official standards for water consumption: the need for fluids depends on age, weight, physical activity and the climate in which a person lives. In many manuals, you can read that you need to drink at least 30 ml per 1 kg of body weight per day, but the specialist warned: you should not force the liquid into yourself. The body has a well-regulated mechanism that provokes thirst and prevents dehydration, so it is recommended to drink according to need.
"For control, you can pay attention to the color of urine from time to time: if it is light yellow and transparent, the body has enough water, a concentrated yellow color indicates a lack of fluid," the expert emphasized.
As suggested by Startseva, it is best to use ordinary drinking water with a neutral acid-base balance to quench thirst. It is recommended to drink such water for the prevention of the disease and for the formation of the most common type of kidney stones, which consist of calcium and oxalic acid salts, calcium oxalate. With urate stones, which are formed against the background of increased acidity of urine, alkaline mineral water is sometimes prescribed, and with struvite and phosphate stones, on the contrary, more acidic.
"It is important to remember that adjusting the acid-base balance with the help of mineral water is part of the complex therapy of urolithiasis, which can only be carried out under the supervision of a doctor. Independent hydrotherapy can worsen the formation of stones," the urologist warned.
According to her, some types of mineral water contain a lot of sodium, and when consumed in large quantities, such drinks increase the risk of complications in people with hypertension and heart failure. She explained that when choosing mineral water, one should give preference to the one in which the sodium content does not exceed 200 mg/ l."
Earlier, on March 13, Professor Evgeny Shpot, Deputy Director for Scientific Work at the Institute of Urology and Reproductive Health of Sechenov University, told Izvestia about the diagnosis and treatment of kidney diseases. He explained that kidney diseases should be divided into two significant groups: nephrological and urological, including oncourology. The first type includes such kidney pathologies as various types of glomerulonephritis, acute and chronic kidney disease. The doctor also said that percutaneous endoscopic interventions are used to treat urolithiasis, in particular percutaneous nephrolithotripsy, in which a small puncture is made through which the stone is removed.
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