More than 600,000 Americans suffer from kidney stones each year, reports urologist Robert Irwin, Jr., accounting for more than 650,000 emergency room treatments. Kidney stones form in your kidney, but inflict their most punishing pain as they make their way through your urinary tract. Once you've had a kidney stone, you're at high risk to develop more. About 50 percent of people who have had stones, develop more within five years, according to a 2006 article published in the "Saudi Medical Journal." Consumption of fish oil might reduce your risk of developing recurring stones.
Kidney Function
Kidneys, bean-shaped organs nestled below your ribs on either side of your back, make urine. They remove waste, toxins and excess water from your blood, and secrete it down tubes, called ureters, into your bladder. Your kidneys perform other critical functions, as well. They release hormones that regulate: your blood pressure, the amount of water in your blood and the balance of certain chemicals in your body, including phosphorus, potassium, sodium and calcium.
Kidney Stones
A mosaic of genetic, metabolic, dietary and clinical events contribute to the formation of kidney stones. Most stones form and find their way out of your body without causing pain because they're so tiny. This is because, for most people, chemicals in urine inhibit the growth of the stones. Some people, however, develop large stones. Large stones can cause intense pain, trigger inflammation, cause urinary tract infections or obstruct the ureter.
Types
Different people form different types of stones. The most common type of stones form from calcium and account for 75 to 85 percent of cases, according to the University of Rochester Medical Center. Strucite stones form from an enzyme, urease, released by bacteria that develop during urinary tract infections. Uric acid stones are formed from uric acid, which is produced during protein metabolism. Risk factors for uric acid stones include chemotherapy, a purine-rich diet and gout. Cystine stones result from an inherited condition called cystinuria.
Risk Factors
Risk factors for kidney stones include kidney disorders, metabolic disorders, urinary tract infections and inherited conditions such as cystinuria, hyperoxaluria and renal tubular acidosis. Intestinal bypass and ostomy surgery can also increase the risk of developing kidney stones. Different dietary factors, too, can alter your risk of developing kidney stones. The specific dietary factors that increase the risk of developing kidney stones vary according to the type of stone you are vulnerable to developing.
Fish Oil and General Health
Fish oil might decrease your risk for all types of stones, because of its beneficial effects on your general health, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Also, fish oil promotes anti-inflammatory processes in your immune system, so it can reduce your risk of inflammatory reactions and urinary infections, thereby reducing your risk of strucite stones.
Fish Oil and Calcium Stones
One of the omega-3 fatty acids in fish oil, EPA, decreases secretion of urinary calcium and oxalate, according to a study published in the July 1991 "Journal of Urology." Fish oil, therefore, might reduce the risk of developing calcium-oxalate, -carbonate and -phosphate stones. Fish oil reduces plasma levels of a particular fatty acid that heightens risk of calcium-based kidney stones. This fatty acid, phospholipid arachidonic acid, tends to be higher in people who develop kidney stones, and it increases calcium levels in urine, according to a study published in 2000 in "Kidney International." By decreasing phospholipid arachidonic acid, fish oil might decrease your risk for developing calcium-based stones.
References
- DrHoffman.com; Kidney Stones: Treatment and Prevention; Zina Kroner, D.O.
- "Kidney International'; Plasma Phospholipid Arachindonic Acid Content and Calcium Metabolism in Idiopathic Calcium Nephrolithiasis; Bruno Baggio, et al; 2000
- National Kidney & Urologic Diseases Information Clearing House (NKUDIC): Kidney Stones in Adults
- Saudi Medical Journal"; Effect of Lime Juice Consumption on Urine pH Value; Hamid Mazdak, et. al.; 2006
- "The Journal of Urology"; The Protective Role of Eicosapentaenoic Acid [EPA] in the Pathogenesis of Nephrolithiasis; A. Buck, et al.; July 1991
- Ultimate Citrus; Citrus Fruits, Liquids Can Prevent Stone Disease; Robert Irwin, Jr.
