full transcript

From the Ted Talk by Arash Shadman: What causes kidney stones?

Unscramble the Blue Letters


Masses less than five millimeters in diameter will usually pass out of the body on their own. A docotr will often spmliy recommend drinking large amounts of water to help speed the process along, and maybe taking some pain killers. If the stone is slightly larger, medications like alpha blockers can help by relaxing the muscles in the ureter and making it easier for the stone to get through. Another medication called psuisotam citrate can help dissolve the stones by creating a less acidic urine. For medium-sized stones up to about ten millimeters, one option is pulverizing them with soundwaves. Extracorporeal shock wave lopsttriihy uses high-intensity pulses of focused ultrasonic energy aimed directly at the stone. The pulses create vibrations inside the stone itself and smlal bubbles jtosle it. These combined forces csruh the stone into smaller pecies that can pass out of the body more esliay. But zapping a stnoe with sound doesn't work as well if it's simply too big. So sometimes, more invasive treatments are necessary. A rigid tube called a stent can be placed in the ureter to expand it. otpiacl fibers can deliver laser pulses to break up the stone. sontes can also be surgically removed through an incision in the patient's back or groin.

Open Cloze


Masses less than five millimeters in diameter will usually pass out of the body on their own. A ______ will often ______ recommend drinking large amounts of water to help speed the process along, and maybe taking some pain killers. If the stone is slightly larger, medications like alpha blockers can help by relaxing the muscles in the ureter and making it easier for the stone to get through. Another medication called _________ citrate can help dissolve the stones by creating a less acidic urine. For medium-sized stones up to about ten millimeters, one option is pulverizing them with soundwaves. Extracorporeal shock wave ___________ uses high-intensity pulses of focused ultrasonic energy aimed directly at the stone. The pulses create vibrations inside the stone itself and _____ bubbles ______ it. These combined forces _____ the stone into smaller ______ that can pass out of the body more ______. But zapping a _____ with sound doesn't work as well if it's simply too big. So sometimes, more invasive treatments are necessary. A rigid tube called a stent can be placed in the ureter to expand it. _______ fibers can deliver laser pulses to break up the stone. ______ can also be surgically removed through an incision in the patient's back or groin.

Solution


  1. easily
  2. simply
  3. lithotripsy
  4. crush
  5. doctor
  6. potassium
  7. pieces
  8. stone
  9. stones
  10. small
  11. optical
  12. jostle

Original Text


Masses less than five millimeters in diameter will usually pass out of the body on their own. A doctor will often simply recommend drinking large amounts of water to help speed the process along, and maybe taking some pain killers. If the stone is slightly larger, medications like alpha blockers can help by relaxing the muscles in the ureter and making it easier for the stone to get through. Another medication called potassium citrate can help dissolve the stones by creating a less acidic urine. For medium-sized stones up to about ten millimeters, one option is pulverizing them with soundwaves. Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy uses high-intensity pulses of focused ultrasonic energy aimed directly at the stone. The pulses create vibrations inside the stone itself and small bubbles jostle it. These combined forces crush the stone into smaller pieces that can pass out of the body more easily. But zapping a stone with sound doesn't work as well if it's simply too big. So sometimes, more invasive treatments are necessary. A rigid tube called a stent can be placed in the ureter to expand it. Optical fibers can deliver laser pulses to break up the stone. Stones can also be surgically removed through an incision in the patient's back or groin.

Frequently Occurring Word Combinations


ngrams of length 2

collocation frequency
kidney stones 5
kidney stone 3
calcium oxalate 2
recommend drinking 2


Important Words


  1. acidic
  2. aimed
  3. alpha
  4. amounts
  5. big
  6. blockers
  7. body
  8. break
  9. bubbles
  10. called
  11. citrate
  12. combined
  13. create
  14. creating
  15. crush
  16. deliver
  17. diameter
  18. dissolve
  19. doctor
  20. drinking
  21. easier
  22. easily
  23. energy
  24. expand
  25. extracorporeal
  26. fibers
  27. focused
  28. forces
  29. groin
  30. incision
  31. invasive
  32. jostle
  33. killers
  34. large
  35. larger
  36. laser
  37. lithotripsy
  38. making
  39. masses
  40. medication
  41. medications
  42. millimeters
  43. muscles
  44. optical
  45. option
  46. pain
  47. pass
  48. pieces
  49. potassium
  50. process
  51. pulses
  52. pulverizing
  53. recommend
  54. relaxing
  55. removed
  56. rigid
  57. shock
  58. simply
  59. slightly
  60. small
  61. smaller
  62. sound
  63. soundwaves
  64. speed
  65. stent
  66. stone
  67. stones
  68. surgically
  69. ten
  70. treatments
  71. tube
  72. ultrasonic
  73. ureter
  74. urine
  75. vibrations
  76. water
  77. wave
  78. work
  79. zapping