Lemonade Offers Sweet Relief From Kidney Stones

[Guest guest]

http://news./s/hsn/20060524/hl_hsn/lemonadeofferssweetrelieffromkidneys\

tones & printer=1;_ylt=AgPix7GblsqV0kvXsbM60yu9j7AB;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0b\

WE-

 

Lemonade Offers Sweet Relief From Kidney Stones

By Amy Sutton

HealthDay ReporterWed May 24, 7:09 PM ET

 

WEDNESDAY, May 24 (HealthDay News) -- Drinking lemonade could help prevent

painful kidney stones, new research shows.

Regular consumption of the refreshing drink -- or even lemon juice mixed with

water -- may increase the production of urinary citrate, a chemical in the urine

that prevents the formation of crystals that may build up into kidney stones.

So conclude two studies presented Tuesday at the American Urological

Association annual meeting in Atlanta.

Kidney stones develop when minerals from urine crystallize and build up on the

inside of the kidney. In most people, urine contains a chemical that prevents

crystal buildup, but that chemical does not work in people prone to kidney

stones. When the body tries to remove the crystallized deposits through the

narrow tubes of the urinary tract, a person may feel pain and burning.

In the study led by Kristina Penniston, an assistant scientist in the

Department of Surgery at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and

Public Health, researchers retrospectively examined the medical records of 100

patients who had been prescribed lemonade therapy after seeking treatment for

calcium oxalate kidney stones. Calcium oxalate stones are the most common type

of kidney stones.

" We'd been recommending lemonade therapy for about 10 years, but within the

last five or six years, we really noticed that people on lemonade therapy have

extremely high urinary citrate concentrations, " Penniston said. " We knew people

were seeing results in urine biochemistries, and [lemonade therapy] was fairly

well-tolerated. "

About two thirds of the patients drank about 4 ounces of pure lemon juice that

they poured into 2.5 liters of beverages throughout the day or 32 ounces of

low-sugar or low-calorie prepared lemonade, Penniston said. The remaining

patients in the study were treated with a combination of lemonade therapy and

potassium citrate, a medication that maintains the antacid level in urine.

After an average treatment time of about 40 months, " in both groups, urinary

citrate increased and so did urine volume. But the increase in volume was only

significant in groups with lemonade therapy, " Penniston said. For patients prone

to kidney stones, drinking lots of fluids and increasing urinary volume may help

prevent future stone formation.

In another study presented at the conference, conducted by researchers at Duke

University, 12 patients with mild-to-moderate hypocitrauria -- a condition that

causes a person to produce low levels of urinary citrate -- drank 120

milliliters of lemon juice mixed with two liters of water throughout the day.

After the researchers compared the people treated with lemonade therapy to

patients taking potassium citrate, results showed that 11 of the 12 patients had

increased urinary citrate levels during lemonade therapy.

The kidney stones of the people taking lemonade therapy also decreased in size

and number during the course of the treatment, which lasted an average of 41

months.

Although the results of these two studies indicate that lemonade therapy may

offer a simple alternative treatment to people with kidney stones who can't

tolerate taking potassium citrate, much more research needs to be conducted,

both study authors concluded.

" Both of these studies are addressing a very specific individual --

individuals with low urinary citrate. They're not suggesting that everyone with

a stone problem try this, " said Dr. Eric N. Taylor, of Brigham and Women's

Hospital and Harvard Medical School, both in Boston.

Taylor also noted that the type of lemonade used in therapy may easily add

extra sugar or calories to a person's diet. " The problem is, if someone would

just drink 2 liters of lemonade, it could represent a significant amount of

calories and sugar, " he said. " When people think lemonade, they don't

necessarily think of lemon juice. The key is you need real fruit, " he said.

More information

For more information about the risk factors, symptoms, and prevention of

kidney stones, visit the U.S. National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and

Kidney Diseases.

 

 

Copyright � 2006 HealthDay. All rights

reserved.

The information contained above is intended for general reference purposes

only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice or a medical exam.

Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional

before starting any new treatment. Medical information changes rapidly and while

and its content providers make efforts to update the content on the site,

some information may be out of date. No health information on , including

information about herbal therapies and other dietary supplements, is regulated

or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information

should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the

supervision of a medical doctor.

 

Copyright 2006 � Inc. Privacy Policy | Terms of Service | Send

Feedback | Help

 

 

 

" To be nobody-but-myself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to

make me everybody else - means to fight the hardest battle which any human being

can fight, and never stop fighting. " -e.e. cummings-