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Although increasing your intake of calcium from foods and supplements is generally considered safe for most people in amounts up to 2000mg per day, consult your doctor before making any radical changes in your diet, as you may be one of the few people prone to forming kidney stones. If you have multiple kidney stones, you have a very real need to cut down calcium intake.
The mechanism of stone formation in adults is a complex phenomenon. Scientists are not always sure why kidney stones form, or why one person has them and another does not, but heredity appears to play an important role in the tendency to form stones. A high level of calcium in the urine often leads to kidney stones. While certain foods may promote stone formation in susceptible people, scientists do not think that eating any specific food causes stones to form in healthy people. Evidence suggests that stones can form because of drinking too little fluid, they may be part of other metabolic disturbances, urinary tract infections, the misuse of certain medications, or lack of exercise of a person subject to stones. Stone formation may also be linked to overactivity of the parathyroid glands or excessive consumption of vitamin D and vitamin C.
According to D.H.S.S. estimates in England in 1983, over 4600 people had hospital treatment for kidney stones; more than a million Americans are hospitalized every year with the problem. Stones seem to occur more often in whites than in black people, in three males for every female; they are also more likely in tropical climates.
What is a kidney stone? Stones, or calculi, may consist entirely of one compound, but most are a combination of various salt or mineral crystals, building up gradually on the lining of the kidneys or urinary tract, possibly causing bleeding of the tissues there and often creating much pain as the stone breaks loose and moves down the urinary tract. When stones grow so large that they cannot be passed out of the body easily, they can obstruct urine, causing acute pain and possible kidney infection or damage.
A doctor’s attention is immediately needed to assess the seriousness of the situation. Although in many cases the calculi are passed harmlessly from the body by taking an increased amount of fluids, surgery is often necessary; recent medical advances have increased the possibility that many cases can be cured or controlled with non-surgical techniques such as ultrasonic probes and high-energy shock waves.
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