Symptoms

The patient may pass gravel for years. I remember a case I had that in the course of five years passed a two-ounce bottle of small stones, the largest being not larger than an ordinary pea, and most of them half that size. Renal colic is common in this disease. The cause of it is passing of a small stone through the ureter. Great distress is complained of. Pain extends from the groin to the kidney, and sometimes down the spermatic cord to the testes. In cases where the stone is in the kidney, there will be no other feeling of discomfort. The patient has difficulty in telling just where the pain is. If asked to put the finger on the spot, he will start to feel with his hand, and unconsciously he will pass his hand over the entire region of the kidney down to the pelvic bones in front, and, to end his efforts of description, he will acknowledge that he cannot find the spot, the reason being that there is no location-the pain is reflex and not stable. The physician must distinguish between stone in the kidney, appendicitis, neuralgia of the spermatic cord, ovaritis, constipation, and colitis. Indeed, there may be a feeling of weight in the reproductive organs, and the patient should be examined for stricture of the urethra or rectum, before diagnosis is made, or an opinion settled upon in regard to the real cause of the discomfort.

Treatment

The patient's diet must be corrected. It is a case of lithemic diathesis, or what is known as the gouty diathesis, and the style of living has been unsuited to the requirements. The patient has been taking altogether too much mineral-bearing foods into his system, and has not taken enough of the eliminating foods. It is doubtful if such diseases as renal colic, gall-stone, or stone in the urinary bladder will ever develop if the dietary is well balanced, carrying enough raw vegetables and fruit to prevent the accumulation of mineral in the system. It should not be forgotten, however, that worry and overworked emotions, and the use of stimulants, will cause the disease.