Kidney Stones. A stone in the kidneys is fairly common and may occur in youth though it is more frequent in the senior years of life. Stones are caused by many different factors, some of which include faulty body metabolism of minerals like calcium, bone diseases, parathyroid disease and possibly kidney in-


Fig. 103. The genito-urinary system is concerned with regeneration and clearing impurities from the bloodstream. Kidney stones can produce pain from a mild ache to a knife-like horror, mostly felt in the back under the lowest ribs but possibly extending to the testicles. The, stones may remain “silent” for many years. The “water” system also is a very delicate balancing machinery, preventing acidity or alkalinity.

fections themselves. Pain of the kidney stone is most characteristic. It is usually a severe cramp-like pain, felt in back and traveling around to the front and down the abdomen, into the scrotum of the male, or the sides of the vagina in the female. Such pain is characteristic and practically diagnoses itself as kidney and urinary tract pain. Often at this stage, a stone in the urinary tract can be seen with the x-ray, and following the cramp-like pain, the patient may pass a gravel-like stone in his urine. If the stone cannot pass itself, it may be necessary to remove it surgically, with the size of the stone often determining what form of treatment is required. The prevention of kidney stones is most difficult, but in people who have already experienced such trouble, relief may be found in a way of life, eliminating certain foods and incorporating others in the diet. The physician must be consulted for treatment of stones or a risk will be present which possibly means a rapid deterioration of kidney functions.

Uremia. Uremia is a well-known disease caused by a failure of kidney function to clear out many waste substances which otherwise pile up in the blood and eventually produce unconsciousness and death. The disease is produced if the kidneys are suddenly lost as through an accident, but will also occur over a long period from diseases which slowly deteriorate kidney function. Uremia progresses as kidney function falls to less than thirty percent of its original ability.

Uremia is a difficult disease to recognize and also to treat. As it begins, its sufferers might appear sleepy, lethargic and mentally unbalanced. In its very latest stages, there often appears the characteristic uremic frost, a fine powdery snow or frost about the skin of the uremic patient. Long before this stage however, the person with uremia has usually lapsed into an unconscious state.

Treatment of uremia is very technical and possible only by the physician. It is diagnosable with accuracy only after definite laboratory tests have been performed to indicate the presence and extent of kidney failure. It is of interest that the disease uremia has become so well established as general knowledge in the minds of so many people.

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