Role of Dietary Supplements in Prevention of Renal Stones: An Update

*Akshata Sangolli, Shridhar C. Ghagane and Rajendra B. Nerli*

## **Abstract**

Kidney stone disease is an oldest known and widespread medical condition characterised by its high prevalence in all over the world. Literature suggests that around 9–12% of population in industrialised countries have kidney stone disease in their lives with the 30–50% of reoccurrence rate. Because of high prevalence, recurrent and unpredictable nature of stone formation and its predominance mainly in adults contributes to the substantial impact on society, individual and health care system. In light of these trends, it's imperative to use optimum preventive strategies to reduce the burden of kidney stone disease on individual and society. The aetiology of kidney stone disease is a multifactorial and it's related to diet, environmental factors, genetics, metabolic syndromes and various life style factors. Its noteworthy that dietary and life style modification are the major contributors in the prevention of kidney stone reoccurrence. Dietary interventions aim to reduce the urinary abnormalities known to promote lithogenesis. Therefore, modification in the dietary factors is appealing way to patients and physicians in the treatment and prevention of stone recurrence as it is relatively inexpensive and safe. So, the present chapter is focusing on the role of dietary supplements in prevention of renal stones.

**Keywords:** kidney stones, dietary factors, prevention, health

#### **1. Introduction**

Kidney stone disease or renal calculi is a serious medical condition though not life-threatening disorder. In medical terms it referred as urolithiasis or nephrolithiasis where "Lith" meaning stone [1]. Renal stone formation is an oldest and widespread disease in the world affecting human beings. Its prevalence in the Europe is around 7–9%, Asia 1–5% and in North America 6–12%. The lifetime prevalence of renal stones in India is 5–11% [2]. This prevalence represents threefold increment and 5–6% absolute increment in last 20–30 years. Increased in the number of cases is reported in all groups irrespective of gender, racial and ethnic variation [3]. An alteration in normal mineral content of urine is the main cause for lithiasis [4]. Urinary components play a vital role in stone formation as they will be in their metastable state with several pre-existing substance which can crystalize to form calculi. These substances if exists in super saturation level makes urine unstable and will lead to crystallisation of excess of solutes [5].

Kidney stone may be found with different shapes, sizes and colours depending on their composition. Smaller stones may pass in the urine without any symptoms, but often stones grow in their size and develop a level of discomfort while passing through urine. In some case it may cause a severe pain if the surface of the stone is rough or it may require medical intervention as bigger stone cannot pass through the urinary system [6]. Other complications such as urinary tract infections, sever pain, or decline in the renal function may be associated with urolithiasis [7]. If neglected it may lead to the substantial damage to the kidney [6]. Since significant number of patients may have to undergo surgical interventions for the treatment, the management of the kidney stone has become considerably expensive [8]. Because of high prevalence, recurrent and unpredictable nature of stone formation and its predominance mainly in adults contributes to the substantial impact on society, individual and health care system [9]. In light of these trends, it's imperative to use optimum preventive strategies to reduce the burden of kidney stone disease on individual and society. Thus, awareness regarding importance of preventive measures particularly on consumption of healthy diet certainly help to reduce the cost of hospitalisation and will increase the compliance in general.

According to literature survey various preventive measures are available to reduce the risk of kidney stone formation such as life style modification, high water intake, less consumption of salt and modification in dietary habits. As diet has shown its strong association with stone formation, changes in dietary habits may help to reduce the burden of stone formation. Less awareness on effect of food on stone formation is one of the main reasons for increase prevalence. So, more studies have to be focused effect of various diets at molecular level to understand the actual mechanism behind stone formation. Thus, present chapter is focusing on role of various diets in prevention of kidney stone disease.
