How to prevent future stones

The fact is that, once you have had kidney stones, you are likely to have more. You can help prevent them by drinking 8 to 10 glasses of water each day. You should eat less of certain foods such as dark green vegetables, chocolates, and nuts and your doctor may give you medicine that helps prevent stones from forming. Almost half of all the people who had a stone will have more stones within five years unless they take preventive measures. The best tips to prevent future kidney stones are to drink many fluids and make changes in your diet. If you have risk factors for having more stones, such as a family history of stones, your doctor may suggest medicines that might help prevent future stones from forming. A recent study reported that using other medicines, such as nifedipine and Prednisone, while passing a stone resulted in more stones passing and fewer lost workdays. Taking preventive measures such as drinking a lot of fluid are much easier than the vists to the emergency room and having a surgical procedure.  Some patients may require more treatment for kidney stones if they have continuing problems and many urinary tract infections, decreased kidney function, a single kidney, an impaired immune system or if they have had a kidney transplant. To prevent further collecting of kidney stones, try to increase the fibers in your diet. Fiber are found in oat and wheat bran, beans, whole-wheat breads, wheat cereals, cabbage, and carrots. You should also try eating less beef, pork, and poultry. It is important that you know that you should not be adding salt when you cook or eat, so try to remove the saltshaker from your table. Your doctor may do more tests before deciding whether changing your diet will help reduce your risk of developing another kidney stone.