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Metabolic syndrome linked to kidney stones

DALLAS, Sept. 14 (UPI) -- Patients with metabolic syndrome have a propensity to develop highly acidic urine, which increases the risk of uric-acid kidney stones, a U.S. study found.

The study, published in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, demonstrated the link was independent of age and renal function.

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Metabolic syndrome is associated with an increased risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes.

"Our findings suggest that the presence of an increasing number of metabolic syndrome features augments the propensity for uric-acid stone formation," lead author Dr. Naim Maalouf of University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas said in a statement. "The association of highly acidic urine with elevated levels of systolic blood pressure, serum glucose, triglycerides and lower levels of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol -- all features of the metabolic syndrome -- has not been previously reported."

Researchers recorded the height, weight and blood pressure of 148 participants who had never developed kidney stones. They also gathered blood and urine samples, and found those with the metabolic syndrome had highly acidic urine, compared to participants without the syndrome -- and the correlation was independent of factors already known to influence urine acidity such as age, gender and body weight.

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