Doctors in China remove 420 kidney stones from one patient

DONGYANG, China, June 8 (UPI) -- Surgeons in China who removed 420 kidney stones from a single patient blamed the man's tofu-heavy and water-light diet for the condition.

Doctors at the Dongyang City People's Hospital said the patient, identified as Mr. Ho, 55, complained of stomach pain in May and a CT scan of his left kidney revealed it was filled with 420 stones.

Dr. Wei Yubin told the Quianjiang Evening Post the man's love of tofu and lack of water likely led to his condition.

"Soy products, especially gypsum tofu, are very high in calcium, the excess of which cannot be excreted from the body without a sufficient intake of water," he said.

Doctors said Ho, who previously had 10 kidney stones removed about 20 years ago, could have lost his kidney if he had waited any longer to receive medical attention.

The man's uncomfortable condition may have been painful, but it fell far short of a world record -- Guinness World Records said a surgeon in India removed 172,155 kidney stones from a patient's left kidney in 2009.