Busting Kidney Stone Myths

According to HealthEast’s Kidney Stone Institute, popular myths about the diet and kidney stones aren’t necessarily true. The first? Avoid calcium. Since many kidney stones are made of calcium, it would seem that you should stay away from calcium. Right? Not so. Doctors may treat people with high oxalate (the other ingredient in many kidney stones) with calcium supplements, because if calcium and oxalate meet in the stomach, they’ll be absorbed into the body.

Another myth? Drinking water, and only water, will help prevent stones. Not true. Drinking anything with water as a base will help prevent stones. And, coffee, tea and carbonated drinks do not increase the risk for stones, because there are preventive effects of the water in the drinks. (The exception: grapefruit juice.)

Many people also think that alcohol causes stones, due to the diuretic effect that may cause dehydration and be a risk for stone formation. In fact, in studies, beer and wine were found to significantly decrease the risk of stone formation. Don’t overindulge, but moderate alcohol use will not increase the risk for stones.

The final diet myth? Vitamin C contributes to kidney stone formation. The truth—normal amounts do not appear to increase the risk of kidney stones.

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About Dornier MedTech – Dornier MedTech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Accuron Medical Technology group (www.accuron.com), is a medical device company focused on providing leading technology and improving life by delivering scientifically superior products and solutions to physicians and patients involved in urological care.  As pioneers of the lithotripsy and a variety of surgical lasers, Dornier’s 40 years of innovation and service has made it one of the most trusted MedTech companies in the industry.  Dornier MedTech is headquartered in Munich, Germany with offices and distributors all over the world.  For more information, visit www.dornier.com.

About the Accuron Medical Technology Group – The Accuron Medical Technology Group is a privately owned by Temasek Holdings, through the business of Dornier MedTech GmbH, Veredus Laboratories and Advanced Materials Technologies Pte Ltd, provide therapeutic, diagnostic, and medical device manufacturing solutions to customers around the globe.  Veredus Laboratories Pte Ltd, specializes in the development, manufacture, and marketing of innovative molecular diagnostic solutions in the clinical, specialty, and custom testing markets based on a proprietary Lab-on-Chip platform.  Advanced Materials Technologies Pte Ltd serves the contract manufacturing needs of the medical technology sector through providing materials expertise and high precision engineering capabilities.