Manama: About one quarter of the adult population in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries suffer from kidney stones, compared with 15 per cent for the same age group in the West, a Qatar-based expert has said.
In Australia, doctors say that between four and eight per cent of Australians suffer from kidney stones at any time and that the risk of kidney stones is about one in 10 for men and one in 35 for women.
"At least 25 per cent of the adult population in the region have kidney stones," Dr Abdussalam Al Musbahi, consultant surgeon and chief at Al Ahli Hospital, said.
"The main reason for kidney stone here is the heavy salt consumption and less fluid intake even when the temperature is soaring high," he said, quoted by Qatari daily The Peninsula.
However, with new technology available, kidney stones can be removed from the body without any pain or surgery.
The kidney stone is broken into small pieces with electromagnetic radiation with the equipment.
The radiation is produced in the equipment outside the human body and is targeted towards the stone inside. The stone will be crushed and will then be passed out in the urine stream as usual.
"Kidney stones do not cause any health problem from the start except for pain. When it moves from kidney to the urinary tracts, they can cause obstruction totally or partially preventing urine passage and cause sever pain. The pain is usually felt in the lower back abdomen or on the sides of the body," Al Musbahi said.
However, people can go unconscious or lead to nausea or vomiting. There can be blood in the urine, visible with the naked eye or under the microscope due to damage to the lining of the urinary tract.
The procedure takes around 30 minutes in the outpatients and necessitates a three to four hour hospital stay. Patients can continue their usual routine after two days, according to Al Musbahi.
