Sugary drinks tied to increased risk of kidney stone

Consumption of sugar sweetened soda and punch is associated with a higher risk of developing kidney stone, a new study has found.
However, some beverages, such as coffee, tea and orange juice, are linked with a lower risk of stone formation, researchers said.
Researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital in US analysed data from three ongoing cohorts, the Health Professionals Follow-Up Study (HPFS), and both the Nurses' Health Study I (NHS I) and II (NHS II).
The total analysis involved 194,095 participants over a median follow-up of more than 8 years. Participants in all the three cohorts had been asked to complete biennial questionnaires with information on medical history, lifestyle, and medication.

Questions on diet were updated every four years.
Researchers found that participants who consumed one or more sugar-sweetened cola servings per day had a 23 per cent higher risk of developing kidney stones compared with those participants consuming less than one serving per week.

This was true for consuming sugar-sweetened non cola as well, such as punch.
"Our study found that the relation between fluid intake and kidney stones may be dependent on the type of beverage consumed," explained Gary Curhan, a physician in the Channing Division of Network Medicine at BWH and senior author of this study.
"We found that higher consumption of sugar-sweetened drinks was associated with a higher incidence of kidney stones," Curhan said.

"Our prospective study confirms that some beverages are associated with a lower risk of kidney stone formation, whereas others are associated with a higher risk," explained Pietro Manuel Ferraro, a physician at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart of Rome and corresponding author of the study.
"Although higher total fluid intake reduces the risk of stone formation, this information about individual beverages may be useful for general practitioners seeking to implement strategies to reduce stone formation in their patients," Ferarro said.
The study was published in Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).