Phyto-molecules for Kidney Stones Treatment and Management

It has been centuries since humans are being affected by kidney stones or urolithiasis. In the past decade, in rural and the urban sectors, kidney stone cases are rising at an alarming rate having a high relapse rate. The rate and prevalence of urolithiasis has been attributed to a number of factors such as age, fluid intake, infections of the urinary tract, climatic conditions sex, genetic predisposition, ethnicity as well as diet. Kidney stones may cause extreme pain and blockage of urine flow, urinary tract infection, hydronephrosis and severe bleeding which necessitates the use of surgery in some cases to remove or break the stones. Although a number of treatments for kidney stones are available which include extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) and drug therapy but the expensive nature of these therapies and the severe side effects caused by exposure to these shock waves such as acute renal injury, decreased renal function and increased stone recurrence limit their use. As proposed by several in vivo and in vitro studies and clinical trials, using phyto-molecules in the treatment and management of kidney stones has emerged as a novel option. The following study discuses about the various plants, their chemical constituents involved along with their mechanism of action that can be used for the treatment of kidney stones.