Imagine suddenly experiencing an excruciating pain, starting as a severe ache in your back at waist level, on either side, eventually moving from your back to your front and, finally down to your groin.

The chances are you've just become one of the 1.2 million Americans annually, who unexpectedly experience the agonizing symptom of kidney stones.

The cause of kidney stones can be one of these six reasons, perhaps in combination:

Age: they are most prevalent between the mid twenties and mid forties.

Gender: men are twice as likely to be sufferers as women.

Genetics: a family history of kidney stones increases your risk.

Insufficient fluid intake: one of the overwhelming reasons for kidney stones is drinking insufficient fluids -- particularly fresh water.

Diet: by far the most important cause of the problem and, fortunately, the easiest one to fix.

Inactivity: particularly if you have a sedentary lifestyle, can play a major role in the production of the most common types of stone.

Clearly little can be done about gender, and genetics, but even if you fall into those risk groups a great deal can still be done to prevent kidney stones ever occurring.

Some good clues to a kidney stone prevention diet lie in the southern states of the USA. Here, the incident of kidney stones is higher than average. Why is this? That the climate is hot and humid is a sign, as is the diet built around a great deal of meat.

I've already briefly mentioned the need to drink sufficient amounts of water on a daily basis and in hot areas this is even more important, because of the amount of water lost through perspiring.

Another cause of kidney stones are those juicy Texan steaks. Meat of all kinds contains purine, which is the prime source of uric acid. Not only does this lead to gout -- painful crystalline condition that causes agony in joints of the toes -- it also creates kidney stones that derive from uric acid.

Apart from eating too much meat, there are certain other foods you should avoid -- particularly if you're at one of the three risk groups.

These include: Other foods that contain oxalate, an acid responsible for about 85% of stones.

Finally, lack of exercise -- particularly if you are confined to a wheelchair or bed -- can result in the leaching of calcium from your bones and this can combine with the oxalate, mentioned earlier, to form the most common type of stone: calcium/oxalate.

So, if you are able, try and exercise on a regular basis. This does not mean going to the gym. Simply a nice walk or a bit of dancing and lifting a few heavy items, like books, will do a lot to strengthen your bones. Make it a life time habit and you'll also reduce your risk of osteoporosis, later in life.

If treatment for a kidney stone is delayed, it can lead to more serious problems, such as kidney infection.

The most drastic treatment is surgery or shock wave treatment for the removal of the stone. These both involve some bruising and pain and a period of recovery. More preferable is a natural cure, based on home remedies.

Paul Hooper-Kelly owns http://www.Kidney-Stones-Dissolved.com/ and has just released a report about a simple home remedy, using regular household items, to painlessly dissolve kidney stones in hours, without surgery or pills.

He also reveals some simple steps for kidney stone prevention. Grab your copy now at Dissolve Your Kidney Stones Fast