GallStone Vs Kidney Stone: Differences Worth Knowing

Stones forming in your body might worry you for sure. It is true that Gallstones and Kidney stones develop in many people every year. There are many similar symptoms of the gall stone and kidney stone. However, there are also some differences between the two, which must be known. So, here we will be talking about the differences between gall stone and kidney stone.

Gallstones are hard lumps developing in the gallbladder or the bile duct. However, kidney stone is a hard crystalline mineral matter that is formed within the kidney or urinary tract.

These two stones differ in several other aspects, which will be discussed in the following arrays of the article.

Gallstones are caused because of crash diets, ethnicity, obesity, growing age, high fat diet, oral contraceptives, statin drugs etc. There are also hereditary causes of gallstones.

However, Dehydration, calcium supplements, obesity, digestive diseases, growing age, pregnancy, hyperuricemia, ethnicity, etc., along with hereditary causes are some of the causes of kidney stones.

Gallstones are most likely to occur in female patients. However, kidney stones are most likely to occur in males.

Gallstones are usually asymptomatic, though in some cases there may be pain below ribs, right shoulder, back, sweating, nausea, fever and restlessness.

Kidney stones have common symptoms like pain in abdomen, flank or groin. Apart from this there may also be blood in urine or hematuria, fever, nausea and chills.

Gallstone usually vary in size and shape. Such stones are usually small; however, can grow to be as large as a golf ball. There may be a single large gall stone or may be many small stones in the gall bladder of the affected patient.

Kidney stone also vary in size. In case a kidney stone grows more than 3 mm in diameter, it can obstruct the ureter. A huge number of small kidney stones pass via urination spontaneously. About half of the larger kidney stones, which are larger than 5 mm to 10 mm in diameter pass simultaneously.

Gallstone can be divided in to two types, namely cholesterol gallstone and pigment gall stone. Pigment gall stone is most commonly seen in people suffering from liver diseases, infected bile tubes in patients with blood disorders.

Kidney stones are divided in to 4 prime types namely, calcium stones, uric acid stones, struvite stones, cysteine stones. Cysteine stones are rarely found and mostly found in patients with cystinosis, cystinuria, and Fanconi syndrome.

Gallstone is composed of calcium bilirubinate, cholesterol, calcium carbonate etc.

However, kidney stone is composed of minerals and acid salts

Gallstone is diagnosed by CT scan, Cholescintigraphy, blood cholesterol test, cholangiography, etc.

CT Scan, Ultrasound, Intravenous Pyelogram etc. are used to diagnose kidney stones.

Gallstone can be treated by Cholecystectomy, Ursodeoxycholic acid, lithotripsy, ERCP. For treating Kidney stone, it requires pain control medications, lithotripsy and also surgery at times.

In order to prevent Gallstone, you can take low fat diet, vegetarian diet etc. However, preventing kidney stone requires drinking more water, and avoiding foods with high oxalate content.

References:

Also Read:

• What are Gallstones: Types, Causes, Symptoms, Treatment, Risk Factors
• Homeopathic Remedies For Gall Stones (Cholelithiasis)
• 7 Signs of Having Gallbladder Stones
• Diet for Gallbladder Stones: Foods to Include & Foods to Avoid for Gallstones