file.newsgroup.med.59447 Maven / Gradle / Ivy
From: [email protected] (ron roth)
Subject: Kidney Stones
[email protected] (Marty Banschbach) writes:
[...]
B > Medicine has not, and probalby never will be, practiced this way. There
B > has always been the use of conventional wisdom. A very good example is
B > kidney stones. Conventional wisdom(because clinical trails have not been
B > done to come up with an effective prevention), was that restricitng the
B > intake of calcium and oxalates was the best way to prevent kidney stones
B > from forming. Clinical trials focused on drugs or ultrasonic blasts to
B > breakdown the stone once it formed. Through the recent New England J of
B > Medicine article, we now know that conventional wisdom was wrong,
B > increasing calcium intake is better at preventing stone formation than is
B > restricting calcium intake.
[...]
B > Marty B.
Marty, I personally wouldn't be so quick and take that NEJM article
on kidney stones as gospel. First of all, I would want to know who
sponsored that study.
I have seen too many "nutrition" bulletins over the years from
local newspapers, magazines, to TV-guide, with disclaimers on the
bottom informing us that this great health news was brought to us
compliments of the Dairy Industries.
There are of course numerous other interest groups now that thrive
financially on the media hype created from the supposedly enormous
benefits of increasing one's calcium intake.
Secondly, were ALL the kidney stones of the test subjects involved
in that project analysed for their chemical composition? The study
didn't say that, it only claimed that "most kidney stones are large-
ly calcium."
Perhaps it won't be long before another study comes up with the exact
opposite findings. A curious phenomenon with researchers is that they
are oftentimes just plain wrong. It wouldn't be the first time.
Sodium/magnesium/calcium/phosphorus ratios are, in my opinion, still
the most reliable indicators for the cause, treatment, and prevention
of kidney stones.
I, for one, will continue to recommend the most logical changes in
one's diet or through supplementation to counteract or prevent kidney
stones of either type; and they definitely won't include an INCREASE
in calcium if the stones have been identified as being of the calcium
type and people's chemical analysis confirms that they would benefit
from a PHOSPHORUS-raising approach instead!
Ron Roth
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-- Internet: [email protected] - Rosenet: ron roth@rosehamilton --
* A stone on the ground is better than a stone in the body.
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