What causes kidney stones?

Doctors do not always know what causes a stone to form. While certain foods may promote stone formation in people who are susceptible, scientists do not believe that eating a particular food will have the stones to train people who are not receptive.

Personal family history of kidney stones may be more likely to develop kidney. Urinary tract infections, kidney disorders such as cystic kidney disease, and certain metabolic disorders such as hyperparathyroidism are also linked to the formation of kidney stones.

In addition, over 70 percent of people with a rare hereditary disease called renal tubular acidosis develop kidney stones.Cystinuria and hyperoxaluria are two other rare, inherited metabolic diseases that often cause kidney stones. In cystinuria, too much amino acid cystine, which does not dissolve in urine, decay, leading to the formation of stones made of cystine. In patients with hyperoxaluria, the body produces too much oxalate, a salt. When the urine contains more oxalate than can be dissolved, the crystals and stones down form.

Hypercalciuria is inherited and can cause stones in more than half of patients. Calcium is absorbed from food in excess and is lost in urine. This high level of calcium in the urine causes crystals of calcium oxalate or calcium phosphate to form in the kidneys or elsewhere in the urinary tract.

Other causes of kidney stones are hyperuricosuria, which is a disorder of uric acid metabolism, gout, excess intake of vitamin D, urinary tract infections and urinary tract obstruction. Some diuretics, also called diuretics, and calcium-based antacids may increase the risk of kidney stones by increasing the amount of calcium in the urine.

Calcium oxalate stones may be also people suffering from chronic inflammatory bowel disease or who have undergone surgery for intestinal bypass or ostomy surgery. As mentioned above, struvite stones can form people who have had a urinary tract infection. People taking protease inhibitors indinavir, a drug used to treat HIV infection, may also be at increased risk of developing kidney stones.