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NEW YORK - Recent studies suggest the incidence of kidney stones is increasing in the United States and worldwide, and diabetes is being seen as a predisposing factor.
A kidney stone is a solid mass consisting of tiny crystals made of calcium, uric acid or other substances. Pain in the back, flank or abdomen is a common feature, plus bloody urine, excessive or painful urination, nausea and vomiting, and other symptoms.
Mayo Clinic researchers led by Dr John Lieske identified 3561 patients with kidney stones between 1980 and 1999. They were matched by age and gender with an equal number of individuals without kidney stones. The researchers also examined patients with diabetes, high blood pressure and obesity.
After taking into account the effects of age, time of year, high blood pressure and obesity, diabetes was significantly associated with a diagnosis of kidney stones, the team reports in the American Journal of Kidney Disease.
For closer scrutiny, Dr Lieske's group obtained a random sample of 269 subjects with confirmed kidney stones and matched them with 260 individuals without kidney stones. The odds of having diabetes in those with kidney stones was of a similar magnitude, but was no longer statistically significant due to the smaller sample size.
However, when the researchers analysed the cases according to stone type, the prevalence of diabetes was 40 per cent among the 10 individuals with uric acid stones, versus 9 per cent among the 112 with calcium stones and 7 per cent in those without kidney stones.
After accounting for the patients' body mass index, patients with uric acid kidney stones had five times the risk of diabetes.
- REUTERS
