• Question: How do kidney stones occur?

    Asked by footh to Keith on 25 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Keith Siew

      Keith Siew answered on 25 Jun 2013:

      Dear Footh,

      Well there a number of potential different causes of kidney stones… but it usually all boils down to calcium in the end.

      So you’re diet can play a really big factor… if you have too much calcium your body has to try get rid of it to maintain balance and prevent inappropriate formation of bone in the body… but when too much is excreted in the urine… it can react with the other chemicals released by the body and precipitate (come out of solution as a solid). This then clumps together and over time builds up to form an effect “stone”…

      Ultrasound is often used to treat kidney stone by using high frequency sound waves to break it up into tiny pieces so it can be passed out in the urine.

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