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Amorphous crystals in urine: causes of appearance, nutrition, prevention. Large quantities of crystals in urine: what does this mean?
If the level of salt in the urine is constantly elevated, this means that not everything is in order with the body, because healthy body, the substances necessary for normal functioning are completely absorbed, and excesses are eliminated. Normal when general analysis urine shows the absence of salts or an insignificant proportion, but if the concentration is increased, then it’s time to visit a urologist.
The appearance of salt in the urine - alarm signal from the kidneys.
Symptoms and causes of salts in urine
The reasons for the appearance of salts in the urine are divided into those that are associated with diseases that increase their concentration, and those that are not associated with diseases.
Sometimes, even in a healthy person, crystals are detected in the urine, since the parameters change depending on the foods consumed, climate, and activity. But, most likely, the increased salt content in the urine and kidneys is a consequence of poor diet, lifestyle, serious illness or infection requiring medical attention:
- salt sediment is present when a person drinks little fluid or with severe dehydration associated with illness, vomiting, diarrhea;
- impaired blood supply after nephrosis, kidney prolapse, infections, blockage of blood vessels.
- an irrational menu, in which too monotonous food favors the deposition of salts, as well as salty food, or, conversely, fasting, dieting, fasting;
- drug therapy, when salt in the urine is detected after potent antibiotics or anti-inflammatory drugs, which is often accompanied by the accumulation of urates;
- heavy physical labor in men.
Taking pills, a poor menu, and impaired water metabolism lead to “salinization” of urine. Usually, with salts in the urine, the symptoms are not pronounced, however, it is important to pay attention to the signs by which the disease can be recognized. If at least one symptom appears, then there is cause for alarm:
- cloudy sediment in the urine;
- change in urine color;
- weakness and pain in the lower abdomen;
- hourly bowel movements;
- burning in the genitals, when salt eats away the mucous membrane of the urinary tract, and the secreted crystals enter the urethra.
- dysuria (difficulty urinating).
Types and norms
Urine consists of water - about 95%, proteins and salts - 5%. The presence of salts in a urine test is compared with a special scale with 4 pluses. U healthy people salts are not detected, but a one-time increase to 2 pluses is acceptable. When the salt concentration is high (3-4 pluses), then you need to take daily analysis urine on salt for a more accurate test. If the tests reveal bacteria, this indicates dangerous infection in the urinary tract. Additionally, the following indicators are assessed:
- the content of white blood particles, when the norm of leukocytes in the field of view for a man is 0-3, and for a woman - 0-5;
- epithelium, red blood cells, casts in urine.
Normal urine is neutral or slightly acidic. Sharp jumps indicators of the balance of alkalis and acids (pH) favor precipitation. The alkaline or acidic environment is determined during laboratory testing. Urine with an acidic reaction contains crystals and salts of uric acid - urates. Crystals of ammonium urate, calcium carbonate, phosphates and tripelphosphates can be found in alkaline urine. Oxalates appear in acidic and alkaline urine. Calcium carbonate and ammonium urate appear rarely. Urates, oxalates and phosphates are found more often in urine.
Stress, diabetes, bad habits may provoke the formation of salts in the urine. What triggers education?
| Possible causes of increased salts in urine | |
|---|---|
| Type | Causes |
| Urats |
|
| Oxalates |
|
| Phosphates |
|
How to remove salts from the body
Only after finding out the reasons for the appearance of salt in the urine, concrete steps are taken to remove it.
If the level is elevated due to a serious illness, the doctor will prescribe the necessary medical supplies and procedures. When oxalates and urates in the urine are increased, the doctor may prescribe Blemaren, Allopurinol, and Asparkam. For oxalates, magnesium oxide, Pyridoxine, and vitamins E and A in combination are prescribed. For phosphates, medications are prescribed that slow down the secretion of gastric juice. If the reasons indicate an incorrect diet, then it needs to be adjusted; if there is a lack of water, increase your drinking intake. In any case, medical consultation is necessary.
Nutrition and diets
The appearance of urates, oxalates and phosphates directly depends on food. Once you know what species are found in your urine and what they mean, you should add some foods and exclude others. Therefore, diet therapy is prescribed first before treatment. An increase in urates requires a special menu of foods containing vitamins A and B, zinc, magnesium and potassium. It is recommended to supplement the diet with alkaline mineral water, vegetables and dairy foods. If there are oxalates in the urine, compotes, tea with lemon, dishes made from oats, wheat, seaweed and other products that contain vitamin B6. To get rid of phosphates, you need to reduce the amount of salt to a minimum and eat more eggs, liver, dairy products, fish, i.e. foods with a lot of calcium and vitamin D.
Fresh vegetable juices effectively and painlessly remove excess salt from the body. Calcium oxalates are poorly soluble natural compounds. The main source of oxalates is oxalic acid. It is very common in nature and is found in the roots and leaves of buckwheat and rhubarb. As a result of biosynthesis, oxalic acid accumulates due to the partial oxidation of carbohydrates. Slightly less, but still, calcium oxalates are present in black pepper, parsley, spinach, chocolate and cocoa.
Calcium oxalates are also present in a certain amount in the human body. Most oxalic acid salts are eliminated on their own, but with excessive concentrations of oxalates they can irritate the internal organs– primarily on the kidneys and bladder. Calcium oxalates accumulate in these organs and interfere with their normal functioning.
Note that oxalates are the most popular stones - they are found in 80% of all calls for kidney stones or bladder.
Externally, calcium oxalates in the human body are compounds that are light or dark in color, with irregularities and protrusions. It is quite difficult to dissolve deposits, since they are the hardest stones and, when passing through the urinary tract, can damage internal organs.
Calcium oxalates are capable of growth, as evidenced by the heterogeneity of their structure in a longitudinal section. Thus, the largest stones can have a diameter of more than four centimeters. Large calcium oxalates are called coral stones.
Most often, oxalates are not big size occur in children 6-7 years old, as well as over 10 years old. This is due to the restructuring of the neurohumoral regulation of the child’s body. Large calcium oxalates, found in the kidneys and bladder, are diagnosed in adults due to poor diet, ignoring the first symptoms of the disease in advanced stages of the pathology.
Reasons for appearance
The appearance of calcium oxalates in the urine of an adult, as well as in a child, can be caused by the following reasons:
- content in the diet of foods containing oxalic acid or its salts;
- presence of a history of diabetes mellitus;
- sudden significant dehydration of the body;
- pyelonephritis, urolithiasis, kidney pathologies that impair urine output;
- poisoning with ethylene glycol or its compounds;
- genetic predisposition, metabolic disorders from birth can also be the cause of oxaluria;
- consequences of removing a segment of the ileum;
- stress, especially during pregnancy;
- abuse of vitamins D and C;
- introduction of bioactive additives into the diet;
- gestosis, transfer infectious diseases during the period of gestation;
- uncontrolled use of steroids, painkillers, sedatives.
Symptoms and diagnosis
You can suspect the presence of calcium oxalates in the urine even without an existing test result. Typically, the symptoms in all patients are quite typical, although they require careful differential diagnosis. Calcium oxalate salts in the urine can manifest themselves as a combination of several symptoms, in particular:
- pain in the kidneys, bladder or ureter;
- colic in the abdomen, appearing unexpectedly, in attacks;
- increased urge to urinate;
- impurities of oxalic acid salts in the urine;
- decrease in the volume of urine excreted by the kidneys per day;
- staining of urine brown when internal organs are damaged by stone fragments;
- patient fatigue and irritability.
Diagnosis of oxalic acid salts in urine is carried out in a laboratory manner. For this purpose, a general and biochemical analysis urine tests, the results of which can be used to estimate the amount of oxalates. Their presence is also indicated by blood impurities. With concomitant inflammation, an excess of protein and leukocytes is found in the urine. As a rule, a single urine test does not diagnose oxaluria, but this gives reason to prescribe repeated and additional research methods. When collecting 24-hour urine, the doctor’s suspicions are mostly confirmed.
In case of possible oxaluria, it is very important to examine the formed calculus on early stage, evaluate its shape, size, location, possible reasons causing the disease. All this will influence the choice of treatment method. To do this, the patient is given ultrasonography, where you can determine all the parameters of interest to the doctor.
Calcium oxalate salts are very visible on ultrasound and are difficult to confuse with other types of stones. At early diagnosis calcium oxalates can be eliminated with minimal difficulty for the patient and the development of urolithiasis.
Principles of treatment
The disease is treated with medications and vitamins. Among the medications, patients are prescribed antibiotics and antispasmodics. Thanks to these groups medicines inflammation can be relieved urinary tract, soreness and spasm and help small salts of oxalic acid move unhindered to the exit.
Platyfillin or No-shpu are usually prescribed as antispasmodics, and an effective antibiotic in in this case Sulfadimethoxine and Biseptol are considered.
Additionally, doctors prescribe vitamin courses, in particular Thiamine, Retinol and Pyridoxine. To saturate the body with magnesium, Asparkam or Xydefon are recommended.
Diet for oxaluria
Treatment of oxaluria is impossible without a properly selected diet. Foods containing excessive amounts of oxalic acid should be excluded from the diet. This means that you should not eat rhubarb, figs, gooseberries, plums, and strawberries. It is also necessary to avoid canned foods that contain large amounts of salt.
Doctors recommend limiting carbohydrate intake and table salt, and if the disease worsens, eliminate dairy products for a while. In order to remove salts, you can drink mineralized water from Naftusya and Essentuki, but not much - no more than two and a half liters per day.
At an early stage, the disease can be cured within a month, but patients must follow a diet even after complete healing. Indeed, if the body is predisposed to oxaluria, the disease may reappear.
Calcium oxalates present in the human body do not cause problems if their amount is small and they are easily excreted in the urine. Otherwise, patients risk facing oxaluria - an excess of calcium oxalates, leading to the formation of stones in the body. To prevent the development of the disease, it is necessary to adhere to proper nutrition and water regime.
A condition in which excess salts are not excreted from the body is called crystalluria. Salt crystals form and precipitate in the urine as a result of various disorders in the body and when exposed to external factors.
- Non-compliance with drinking regime.
- Dehydration of the body during illness.
- Impaired blood supply to the urinary organs.
- Infectious diseases.
- Long-term medication use.
- Lots of physical activity.
- Excessive consumption of protein foods.
- Metabolic disorder.
The main reason is non-compliance with drinking regime and dehydration of the body during illness, so it is very important to drink at least 2-3 liters of fluid daily.
Eating large amounts of foods containing oxalic acid, fatty meats and meat broths, smoked and salty foods contributes to the formation of salts in the body.
Types of salts and their content standards
Urine consists of 93-95% water, and 5-7% is salts and proteins.
By chemical composition There are 3 types of salts:
- Oxalates- These are salts of calcium and oxalic acid.
- - These are derivatives of uric acid.
- Phosphates- These are salts of phosphoric acid.
The reasons for the formation of salts are different.
Urates are formed as a result of:
- Past diseases: hepatitis, gout, hyperhidrosis.
- At frequent use mushrooms, spinach, parsley, fatty meat and rich broths.
- Hereditary predisposition.
- Drinking large amounts of strong coffee, cocoa, alcohol, chocolate;
- Uncontrolled use of antibiotics.
The reasons for the appearance of oxalates in the urine are as follows:
- Foods high in oxalic acid.
- Dehydration of the body.
- Vitamin D deficiency.
- Crohn's disease.
- Inflammatory kidney diseases.
- Disruption of the gastrointestinal tract.
Causes of increased phosphate content in urine:
- Consumption of foods containing phosphorus.
- Refusal of meat and dairy dishes.
- Impaired kidney function.
- Diabetes.
There is a special scale that determines the rate of crystals in the urine. The scale includes 4 values from 1 to 4. A value of 1-2 is normal, higher is considered pathological.
Symptoms and diagnosis of crystalluria
People have following symptoms diseases:
- Pain and spasms in the lower back.
- Increased body temperature.
- Frequent and painful urination.
- Change in urine color.
- Burning in the genitals.
- Precipitate appears in the urine.
- Weakness of the whole body.
The danger of crystalluria is the development of urolithiasis, pyelonephritis, nephrosis and renal failure.
To confirm the disease, the following activities are carried out:
- General and biochemical urine analysis.
- Ultrasound of the kidneys and bladder.
- Cystoscopy.
- X-ray of the urinary system.
The main diagnostic method is laboratory test urine. With crystalluria, the content of uric acid, protein, and leukocytes is increased. If except bad analysis urine, the patient is concerned about the symptoms, urgently needs to consult a specialist.
Treatment
Treatment for crystalluria includes:
- Taking medications.
- Dieting.
- Drinking regime.
Drug therapy involves taking the following medications:
- With an increased urate content, the following are prescribed: “Blemaren”, “Asparkam”.
- If oxalates are elevated: “Xidifon”, “Pyridoxine”.
- For phosphates, the use of: “Canephron”, “Cyston” is indicated.
In addition, vitamin and mineral complexes and sorbents are prescribed.
Increasingly, probiotics are used to treat salts in urine: bifidobacteria, lactobacilli and their complexes.
Very important diet, which depends on the type of salts.
If the urate content is high, you should avoid fried, smoked, salty foods, fatty fish and meat soups, alcoholic drinks, chocolate, strong coffee and tea, baked goods.
The diet must include: dairy products, sweet berries and fruits, vegetables and vegetarian soups.
If oxalates are detected in the urine, it is prohibited to consume foods containing oxalic acid (sorrel, rhubarb, sour apples), fatty, salty, smoked dishes, rich soups.
The menu should include the following products: sweet fruits and berries, foods high in B vitamins (buckwheat, millet) and magnesium (dried fruits), non-acidic vegetables.
A diet for phosphaturia involves avoiding sweet and baked goods, alcoholic beverages, dairy products, chocolate, and fatty meats.
It is allowed to eat cereals, berries, fruits, and protein dishes.
When diagnosing crystalluria, it is necessary to observe drinking regime, drink at least 3 liters of liquid. The amount of table salt consumed should be reduced to 3 grams per day.
Widely used means traditional medicine to remove salts from the body.
Helps remove urate salts the grass is half fallen. To prepare the decoction, you need to brew a tablespoon of raw materials in a glass hot water, bring to a boil, leave for an hour. Take half a glass twice a day. The course of treatment is 14 days. The herb helps restore the water-salt balance; it is able to dissolve and remove small stones and sand from the kidneys.
A collection of parsley roots, dried leaves of strawberries, lingonberries, knotweed and tansy flowers removes oxalic and uric acid salts well. To prepare the decoction, you need to pour 2 tablespoons of the mixture with 2 cups of boiling water, leave for 2-3 hours, pass through a sieve. Drink the resulting liquid throughout the day.
Infusion of oat grains removes salts and sand from the kidneys, prevents the formation of urate and oxalate stones. To prepare the decoction, you need to brew a glass of unrefined grain with a liter of boiling water and leave for 10-12 hours. Take half a glass before each meal.
Prevention
Preventive measures include:
- Rejection of bad habits.
- Compliance with drinking regime.
- Varied and nutritious food.
- Physical education and sports classes.
- Annual examination of the whole body.
Crystalluria is easily treatable, so timely diagnosis and timely treatment can completely eliminate the disease.
Urine is a human waste product, a liquid formed by the kidneys in the process of filtering plasma and reabsorbing some of its components. It consists of 97% water, the remaining 3% comes from decay products and impurities.
The detection of salts in a urine test is not always a sign of any disorder. A small concentration is indicated in the laboratory by one or two pluses (“+” or “++”) and can occur normally in a healthy person. As a rule, this is a temporary phenomenon associated with physiological characteristics.
A significant amount of salts (“+++” and “++++”) most often indicates metabolic disorders, water-salt metabolism, diseases of the urinary system, endocrine diseases and other pathologies.
- endocrine pathologies
- are treated with appropriate medications:
- 1 Diabetes mellitus: hypoglycemic agents, insulin, antihypertensive drugs. 2 Gout: allopurinol, colchicine to treat an attack, losartan. 3 Uric acid diathesis in children: diet,
- mineral water
Show all
1. Types of salts
Most often phosphates and urates are found in urine, less often - calcium sulfate and carbonate, hippurates, etc.
1.1.
These are salts of uric acid. With constant secretion, they can form in the bladder, as well as near the joints (gouty tophi).
The appearance of urates in urine may be due to poor nutrition(excess in the diet of red meat, strong meat broths, coffee, tea, liver, legumes, canned food, mushrooms), high physical activity, gout and purine metabolism disorders. Leukemia and other malignant tumors are also accompanied by an increase in the concentration of uric acid and its salts in the blood and urine.
5.1.
Diet The basis of therapy is therapeutic diet
| , which normalizes the acidity of urine and helps remove excess salts from the body. | Salts |
|---|---|
| Urats | Food |
| Berries, fruits, dried fruits | |
| Vegetables (pumpkin, potatoes, eggplant, cauliflower) | |
| Cereals, grain bread | |
| Flour and confectionery products | |
| Oxalates | Alkaline mineral water |
| Drinking water up to 3 liters per day | |
| Apples, pears, apricots, vegetable soups, potatoes Porridge with milk. |
|
| White bread, loaf, pasta | |
| Phosphates | Butter or vegetable oil, cottage cheese, eggs |
| Mineral water up to 3 liters per day. Juices |
|
| Berries and fruits are sour. Legumes. Vegetables: cucumbers, zucchini, pumpkin, potatoes | |
| Cereals, porridges, pasta |
Table 1 - Recommended foods
5.2.
Drugs Pyelonephritis, cystitis, and genital infections are treated with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory drugs. For infections that occur with high temperature body, fever, vomiting and diarrhea, constant monitoring is necessary
water balance and timely rehydration. Metabolic diseases,
, multivitamins. 4 Urolithiasis: diet, prevention of complications and recurrent stone formation. Urates can be dissolved using citrate and bicarbonate. Pregnant women who detect a large amount of salts in the urine are advised to have a balanced diet, limit strong meat broths and replace them with vegetable broths. Among
meat products preference should be given to boiled turkey, rabbit, chicken, and low-fat fish. Do not overuse marinades, canned food, smoked meats, coffee and tea. Can be used to remove salts folk recipes, rosehip decoction), mineral or pure drinking water up to 2.5 liters per day (in the absence of edema, renal and heart failure).
Salts in the urine of adults and children are not a harmless symptom, so you should not ignore them. Their constant precipitation eventually leads to the formation of stones in the urinary tract.
Rational nutrition, diet for metabolic disorders, balanced water regime and regular physical exercise are the main methods of preventing diseases of the urinary system.
Kidneys are the organs responsible for excretory function body. Thanks to the work of these organs, all substances entering the bloodstream are filtered. They are responsible for maintaining water-salt and electrolyte metabolism. In addition, they produce the hormone “erythropoietin”, which is necessary to ensure the function of hematopoiesis. Kidney function can be assessed using a urine test. There are many different laboratory techniques for performing this study. In addition to the fact that by the state of the secreted liquid you can find out about the presence inflammatory processes and impaired filtration capacity of the kidneys, sometimes crystals are found in the urine. Normally they shouldn't be there. Therefore, the appearance of crystals indicates functional disorders. In some cases, these changes are observed in the presence of stones. Sometimes similar phenomenon indicates a predisposition to certain kidney diseases. At the same time, the pathology itself may not yet develop.
Crystals in urine: the cause of their appearance in healthy people
The crystals are an accumulation of salts that form urinary sediment. Their appearance in large quantities is not always a deviation and sometimes occurs in healthy people. If the crystals in the urine are significantly increased, this indicates a violation of mineral metabolism. Highlight following reasons appearance of salts in OAM:
- The predominance of certain foods in the diet. These include meat, tomatoes, asparagus, sorrel, and lingonberries. The fact is that this food contains a large amount of acids, which crystallize and precipitate.
- Increased sweating during physical activity.
- Taking certain antibacterial medications (drugs of the sulfonamide group, ampicillin).
- Drinking unfiltered tap water.
- Alkaline urine reaction. It is observed in the presence of inflammation in the kidneys.
If, due to the above reasons, amorphous crystals appear in the urine, this is not a pathological condition. However, chronically eating large amounts of foods containing acids is considered a predisposing factor for the formation of kidney stones.
The appearance of amorphous crystals in pathology
Crystals in urine can vary. It depends on what salts they are formed from. Crystals are divided into phosphates, urates, and all of these substances can form kidney or bladder stones. In some cases, stones contain several different salts at once. Phosphates often precipitate during bladder infections (cystitis), and they also appear due to increased secretion of Urate - this is an accumulation of salts. Excessive production of this substance indicates a violation of mineral metabolism in the body (gout). In addition, urates are often present in the urine in chronic diseases of the kidney tissue (nephritis, chronic renal failure). Most often, stones consist of calcium, which is released in large quantities and forms crystals. Oxalates in the urine are observed in diseases such as pyelonephritis and diabetes mellitus.
The presence of certain types of crystals always indicates pathological conditions. These include salts of hypuric acid, accumulation of cholesterol, bilirubin, leucine, tyrosine, hematoidin. Normally, these substances should not be excreted by the kidneys.
Symptoms of crystals in urine
Most often, the presence of crystals in the urine does not manifest itself in any way. Especially if there is an accumulation of salts in small quantity. Symptoms occur with the formation of stones and the development of urolithiasis. In this case, the functioning of the kidneys is disrupted due to obstruction of the collecting system. Also, stones can accumulate in the bladder and enter the ducts. As a result, a syndrome such as renal colic develops. The patient complains about severe pain in the lower back, extending down the abdomen and groin area. Due to the fact that there is a stone in the ureter, the release of fluid is difficult. Painful sensations with renal colic they are so strong that the patient takes a forced position: on his side with his legs brought to his stomach. Crystals in the urine of a child are most often observed due to inflammatory pathologies (acute and chronic pyelonephritis, cystitis). Such ailments are accompanied by fever, nausea, pain in the lower back and abdomen (usually on one side).
Diagnosis in the presence of crystals in urine: interpretation of tests
Urates, phosphates and calcium crystals in urine are found when microscopic examination. In addition to OAM, a biochemical blood test is performed. The presence of crystals in the urine is indicated by a “+” sign. For example, the entry “urate+++” means that these substances are present in large quantities. The pH level is also determined. If this indicator is normal, a more in-depth examination is carried out. Nechiporenko, kidney ultrasound, excretory urography are performed. In some cases, it is necessary to conduct a study of the parathyroid glands. In addition to laboratory and instrumental diagnostics, you should find out: what foods the person consumed before taking the OAM, and whether he drinks unfiltered water.
Amorphous crystals in urine: treatment
After determining the cause of the appearance of crystals in the urine, treatment is prescribed. If there are large stones in the kidneys, it is necessary surgical intervention. In cases where crystals occur against the background of some disease (pyelonephritis, diabetes mellitus, gout), treatment should be aimed at the underlying pathology. When renal colic develops, antispasmodic drugs (No-spa, Drotaverine tablets) and uroseptics are prescribed.
How to prevent crystals from forming in your urine
To prevent the formation of crystals in the urinary sediment, it is necessary to periodically take an OAM. After all, often the accumulation of salts is not accompanied by any symptoms. It should be remembered that crystals rarely form when proper nutrition. Therefore, it is worth consuming foods containing acids in limited quantities. It is not recommended to drink “raw” unfiltered water. In the presence of inflammatory and metabolic diseases, it is necessary to follow the doctor’s prescriptions.
