New Facts on Kidney Stones
 (HealthScoutNews, 3/5/03)

In an American study that appears in the March 1 issue of Journal of Clinical Investigation, researchers examined tissue from 3 groups of people: 1) patients with common calcium oxalate kidney stones; 2) those who developed stones after intestinal bypass surgery; and 3) a control group with cancerous tumors of the ureter (the tube conveying urine from kidney to bladder). Using infrared analysis, the scientists found that initially the stones consisted of calcium phosphate, not calcium oxalate as was previously thought. These findings suggest that newly-formed kidney stones are calcium phosphate and the body later converts them to oxalate, a common component of bones and teeth. The study also showed that stones can attach to the kidney, even in the absence of cell injury.