Kidney Stones.

[Kay]

I've just been reading about these. It states they are caused by a build up of calcium. I take calcium daily 100mg..1 capsule. Im in a quandery now,do I carry on taking them or stop? TIA.

[Octavius]

Conventional wisdom has held that consumption of too much calcium can aggravate the development of kidney stones, since the most common type of stone is calcium oxalate. However, strong evidence has accumulated demonstrating that low-calcium diets are associated with higher stone risk and vice-versa for the typical stone former.

Other examples of kidney stones include struvite (magnesium, ammonium and phosphate), uric acid, calcium phosphate, or cystine (found only in people suffering from cystinuria). The formation of struvite stones is associated with the presence of urease splitting bacteria (Klebsiella, Serratia, Proteus, Providencia species) which can split urea into ammonia, most commonly Proteus mirabilis.

If you have serious concerns about developing kidney stones then I would ask your GP about your calcium intake.