Kidney stones and heart disease

It is well established that kidney stones increase the risk of developing chronic kidney disease. But a new study published in the American Journal of Kidney Diseases suggests they may also increase the risk of coronary heart disease and stroke .
                                                     

A kidney stone is an accumulation of waste chemicals in the kidney - calcium, oxalate, cystine, phosphate, xanthine and irate - that become a hard mass. Normally, these chemicals are passed out the body through urine, but they can build up if there is not enough liquid to get rid of them.

Once these stones are formed, they either stay in the kidney or move down the urinary tract into the ureter. Smaller stones can be passed out the body in urine without causing major discomfort, but larger stones may become stuck. Urine can build up behind the stones, causing a lot of pain.

The number of people affected by kidney stones in the US has been steadily increasing over the last 3 decades. It is thought that 1 in 10 people will have a kidney stone at some point in their lives.

According to the National Kidney Foundation, kidney stones have been increasingly linked to an array of health conditions, such as diabetes, obesity and hypertension.

In this latest study - led by Yanqiong Liu of the Department of Clinical Laboratory at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University, China - the researchers wanted to see whether kidney stones influenced the risk of cardiovascular problems, such as coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke.

They found that patients with kidney stones were 19% more likely to experience a CHD incident - defined as having a heart attack or arterial bypass surgery - and were 40% more likely to have a stroke, compared with patients who did not have kidney stones.