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How Much Do You Know About Kidney Stones?

Test your smarts about this common condition

Christina Ianzito,

AARP

En español

Published May 05, 2021

10 Questions

fe3893bd-20ce-44f3-82b7-048a9c319ad9

How Much Do You Know About Kidney Stones?

[ {
 "question" : "Where and what are the kidneys?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Two inch-wide disks that flank the bladder and absorb nutrients for the body from the bloodstream",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Small organs near the stomach that release hormones to encourage digestion",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Fist-size organs below the ribs, on each side of the spine, that filter waste from the blood and produce urine",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "The kidneys filter about 200 quarts of blood daily to produce about 2 quarts of waste products and water.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "How much do you know about kidney stones?",
 "questionImgCredit" : "Cultura/Getty Images"
}, {
 "question" : "What is a kidney stone?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "A hard object made when urine becomes too concentrated and minerals clump together",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "A small piece of bone that's been dislodged somewhere in the body and settles in the kidney",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "A tiny undigested piece of something hard — often an actual stone — that went undetected in food that's been eaten",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "As the kidney removes waste from the blood, an excess of certain minerals can crystallize, creating a solid stone.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What are the odds that someone in the United States will have a kidney stone in his or her lifetime?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "One in 11",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "One in 40",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "One in 4",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "About 10 percent of Americans are likely to have at least one kidney stone at some point, a figure that's doubled since 1994. The National Kidney Foundation associates the rise with higher rates of obesity and diabetes.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which of these groups is most at risk for kidney stones?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "White women",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "African American men",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "White men",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Stones occur more frequently in men than in women, and in white men more frequently than in African American men.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which are the most common symptoms when someone has a kidney stone?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "A small lump that can be felt in the abdominal area, fatigue and a tingling in the legs ",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Severe pain on one side of the lower back, fever and nausea",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Pain in the chest, blurred vision and dizziness",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Someone with a kidney stone will often have a sharp pain on one side of the back, and sometimes nausea and fever (the latter may indicate an infection), as well as blood in the urine.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which conditions or dietary habits are thought to be among the more likely causes of kidney stone formation?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Inadequate water intake and eating too much salt or sugar",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Eating too little fiber and too few fruits with vitamin A",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Both of the above",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Drinking plenty of water is important to help the kidneys flush out waste, and too much salt or sugar (such as the fructose found in fruit) is associated with a higher risk for kidney stones.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Is someone who has had a kidney stone more likely to form another?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Someone who's had a kidney stone is neither more nor less likely to form another. ",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Someone who has had a kidney stone has expelled so many impurities that he or she is less likely to form another stone.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "There is a much higher chance that the person will get another stone.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "If someone has had a kidney stone, he or she has a 50 percent chance of developing another one within five to seven years.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "What is the most common treatment for a kidney stone?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Drinking a lot of water",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "An oral medication that is able to quickly dissolve the stone",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Surgery",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "Doctors most commonly have patients with kidney stones drink water to see whether the stone can be passed through the urine. If that's ineffective, the next resort is surgery or a treatment called extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL), in which shock waves hit the stone and break it into smaller pieces.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "How big was the world's largest reported kidney stone?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "The size of a golf ball",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "The size of a softball",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Almost as big as a basketball",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "According to Guinness World Records, in 2004 surgeons in India operated on a man whose stone was 5 inches in diameter, about the size of a softball.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
}, {
 "question" : "Which of the following is true?\n",
 "answers" : [ {
 "answer" : "Recently uncovered documents suggest that severe pain from kidney stones is what drove Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, in a fit of madness, to cut off his ear.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 }, {
 "answer" : "Actor William Shatner of \"Star Trek\" fame sold his kidney stone for $25,000.",
 "correctAnswer" : true
 }, {
 "answer" : "Toward the end of her life, Emily Dickinson revealed that her poem \"How Happy Is the Little Stone\" was actually a bitterly ironic reference to her bout with a painful kidney stone.",
 "correctAnswer" : false
 } ],
 "multiSelect" : false,
 "explanation" : "In 2006, William Shatner sold his kidney stone to an online casino called GoldenPalace.com for $25,000 and gave the money to Habitat for Humanity.\n",
 "hint" : "",
 "hintLink" : "",
 "questionImgCaption" : "",
 "questionImgCredit" : ""
} ]

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How Much Do You Know About Kidney Stones?

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Christina Ianzito covers scams and fraud, and is the books editor for aarp.org and AARP The Magazine. Also a longtime travel writer and editor, she received a 2020 Lowell Thomas Award for travel writing from the Society of American Travel Writers Foundation.

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