Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices, where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is Dr. Aaron Nguyen, Urologist with Inland Urology Group. Dr. Nguyen, thank you for making time to share your work with us today.
Dr. Aaron Nguyen
Thank you for having me.
Yvette Walker
I know you enjoy focusing on environmental factors related to kidney diseases, specifically stone formation. What have you seen?
Dr. Aaron Nguyen
We see stone formation. We most see more stone patients in the emergency departments every summer, when it gets hot. Dehydration is very, very important. There are many studies that show that patients out in the southeast, like Alabama, Mississippi, where it's hot and humid, where dehydration is big factor. We call it the stone belt. There are many stones that form in those regions. We know that the Pacific Northwest, Seattle, Oregon, is more humid, it's cooler, there are fewer stone formations. So those are important factors. Dehydration is very, very important. Definitely there's some epidemiological study that shows that, as a person who gained more weight, there's more stone formations as well. Definitely, the processed foods that we eat on a daily basis is not good for for anything, including stones.
Yvette Walker
And so you mentioned some of the nutritional factors. What have you identified that contribute to the development of kidney stones?
Dr. Aaron Nguyen
Yeah, high salt intake is probably not good for stone formation. High animal protein intake is not good for stone formations. We tell patients a lot of times the Mediterranean diet is actually very healthy for the heart, but it's also very good for stones as well. And there's a misnomer as well, that you take a lot of calcium in a diet to form stones. In fact, it's just the opposite of when we don't take enough calcium in our diet, we form calcium stones. The calcium in the pill is actually very harmful, but calcium in the diet is actually very helpful.
Yvette Walker
So what have you observed within the Latino communities, environmental and nutritional habits that we can glean from in terms of patterns or outcomes?
Dr. Aaron Nguyen
I think dehydration is again, very, very important, and patients always ask me, how much water should I take on a daily basis? And that's very individualized. The typical things you hear about, six to eight glasses of water a day, I actually tell my patient, look at the color of urine. If it's dark, drink more. If it's light, you can drink less. So for example, an 80 year old woman who's in the library all day is different than a 300 pound construction worker who is working outdoors all the time. So there's a different need for water intake. So it's really, really important to take those water intake seriously. I know in the Latino community a lot of hard working people in the blue collar industries, and if you're outdoors and you're working hard and things that require a lot of heavy lifting and strenuous activities, really replenish your fluid intake is super important.
Yvette Walker
Dr. Nguyen, what are some common symptoms of kidney stone development?
Dr. Aaron Nguyen
Sure. So, you know, there's also a misunderstanding that people have back pain, flank pain is always from stones. And as a misnomer, stones actually do not cause pain unless they move out of the kidney into the ureter. There's a drain of the kidney, so when the stone move from the, for example, the top of a basin into the drain of the sink, that's when people's pain starts. And definitely, if someone has severe pain that's not related to certain position, you can't make the pain hurt more or less by lifting things or turning to your right, turning to your left. I think people always have back pain, and they're not sure whether it's stone pain or back pain. You see stone pain, you can't tell whether it's positional or not. It doesn't matter what position you're in, the stone hurts all the time.
Yvette Walker
Wow. Okay, well, thank you for that. And how can we take what we know about stone development and implement preventive measures to avoid them?
Dr. Aaron Nguyen
I know I can't hit it hard on the head with a nail hard enough. Water is the number one thing that's important. Number two thing is water, and number three thing is water. Cut down your salt intake, cut down your meat intake, or even animal protein and chicken and fis. Don't eliminate from your diet, it's too hard, but eliminate the portion size. So lower your portion size is very important. And if you're looking for things that may help, as I mentioned earlier, dietary calcium is helpful. Citrus is very helpful. You know, grapefruits, oranges, lemons, do things as naturally as possible. Instead of opening a can or a box or bottles, cutting your own oranges and making orange juice is actually better than from a can or bottles.
Yvette Walker
What is the best way to reach you?
Dr. Aaron Nguyen
So our website is inlandurology.com. Everybody's story is different. So it's best to see a doctor if you have any concerns about stone formation. The one thing I do want to get a message out there, that's I think life threatening? If you have severe pain in your side and you have fever and chill, it's a medical emergency. Go to the emergency room. Do not call anybody. Don't go on the internet. Go to the emergency room. Fever and severe back pain, severe plank pain, is a dangerous thing.
Yvette Walker
Thank you so much, Dr. Nguyen, for your insight and your expertise.
Dr. Aaron Nguyen
Thank you.
Yvette Walker
My guest today has been Dr. Aaron Nguyen, Urologist with Inland Urology Group. Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at kvcrnews.org/IELatinoVoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media and is funded by generous support from the CIELO Fund at IECF, uplifting and investing in the IE’s Latino community. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
