How common is this? I just found out that my 19 year old niece has been in and out of the hospital a few times recently due to complications in passing kidney stones. Her brother has had kidney stones for a couple of years –and he’s only 18. And one of his same-aged friends was recently in the hospital for same issue. WTF? Is this a common thing nowadays? I thought kidney stones were an older age affliction. I’m 41 and have never had any.
I suspect their problems are due to chugging too much soda. The niece has a mouthful of rotted teeth and needed to have some pulled recently. She guzzles mountain dew like it’s nectar from the gods.
It does look like the rate of young people with kidney stones is increasing because of high salt intake and low fluid intake: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/health/28kidn.html?_r=1
However, hopefully the docs are checking to rule out any genetic causes, such as something like Cystinuria
Hijack alert
Don’t get me started on the effects of sugared drinks for children. Would you let your kid eat 4 jelly sandwiches for a snack? But an extra large soda is okay. One serving of carbs being 15 grams and you can have 250 grams a day and that soda gave your child over half the daily carbs allowed. So kid gets a refill and there’s your daily intake surpassed with no other nutrients involved at all. I don’t wonder that our kidneys can’t handle the stress.
Cyn, who gives this talk almost daily at work and the most frequently asked question is “Can I have one of those jelly sandwiches?”:mad:
My youngest brother had one of these a couple of years ago. I think he was 13 at the time. He was at summer camp, it was very hot, and he didn’t drink enough water. Overindulgence in iced tea may have been part of the problem too, but he insists that wasn’t it.
I had my first incident with kidney stones when I was 20. My mother also had kidney stones in her early 20’s, so she wasn’t too surprised when it happened to me. I know I never drink enough water, which is most likely my problem - the doctors weren’t able to give me any more information on the matter, because they never managed to analyze a stone in the lab. I don’t drink very much soda, or iced tea, either. I just never seem to be thirsty, so I’m probably under-hydrated, which means my kidneys are stuck with some very concentrated stuff.
My nephew (16) just had surgery for kidney stones. They wouldn’t pass by themselves and they had to put a temporary stent in. My sister-in-law, his mom, has a history of kidney stones, too. FWIW, the kid probably doesn’t drink enough water, but he definitely doesn’t drink a lot of soda. I know that they don’t keep any in the house and when we’re with them, the kids are generally drinking water or milk. I don’t know a lot about kidney stones, but I always thought it was a genetic tendency.
I was ‘lucky’ enough to get my first stone at 15 (I’m 47 now). I wasn’t a heavy soda drinker, and always drank a lot of ice water. After my first stone, my doc told me to drink a gallon of non-carbonated fluids a day, and I upped my water intake even more. But my kidneys apparently just suck. I’ve had dozens of stones in the intervening 32 years, and end up having one or two surgically removed per year, on average.
Now, all this is not to say that my increased fluid intake doesn’t help. Heaven only knows how bad it might be if I didn’t drink so much water!
I think there’s a genetic component to it. All four of my sisters have had kidney stones (though none to the extent that I have). Thankfully, none of my kids (21, 18 and 9) have had any yet.
That certainly is a hijack. And pretty unrelated to causes of kidney stones.
Why not start a pit thread on the topic? I certainly concur that fruit juices and sugared sodas are inappropriate hydration beverages for most folks.
As to the OP, yes, most cases of stones are due to inadequate fluid intake, but a significant minority have other factors contributing to them. I wrote a lengthy thread some years back on the art of studying urine, blood, and stone composition to determine the best way to treat them.
My foster daughter developed them at age 18. She is not a soda drinker.
What she does have (due to abusive treatment at an early age by her stepmother) is a bad habit of going for 12+ hours at a time without urinating.
My 18 year old cousin had a kidney stone just a week before her graduation party. She’s still now sure why she had it.
I never had kidney stones when I was a teen, but between age 38 and 40, I had 4 kidney stones. After the 4th one, I went to a kidney specialist. I was able to get one analyzed. It was a calcium oxalate stone. My kidney doctor told me that I should take a vitamin B6 supplement daily. Once I started doing that, I have had no further instances of kidney stones, and it has been over a year since my last one.
I honestly think the kids drink more water now than they did when I was in High School (15 or so years ago)–15 years ago bottled water was a rarity and certainly wasn’t something a teen would take if their was soda offered. Now, if I am providing drinks for a group of teens, the water cooler goes empty before the soda coolers.
We had a kid this year pass a kidney stone right before a playoff football game and he still made it to the game and played in the last quarter.
Between the ages of 18-23 I had 11 kidney stones. I drank way too much Coke. I now drink water, but still have at least one Coke a day. I used to drink 4 or 5 Cokes a day.
My sister had them for a bit when she was 18. The doctor told her to cut back on colas and ranch dressing, and she has been mostly problem free for two years now.
This advice is probably due to the high levels of salt found in these products, which can cause kidney stone formation. According to a recent NYT article, it does appear that there is an increasing occurrence amongst younger adults in their 20s and 30s, and especially women; however this is a likely ‘overspill’ from a population wide increase, in addition to the more normal incidence in later life.
Actually that has less to do with becoming overweight and more to do with an ingredient in the dressing that can affect her kidney. Specifically, Calcium disodium EDTA, a white, odorless, crystalline powder, with a faint, salty taste. In the food industry, it is commonly used a preservative and sequestrant. Too much can cause kidney damage, and it is in ALOT of processed foods, some you would not expect.