Department of Energy Argonne National Laboratory Office of Science NEWTON's Homepage NEWTON's Homepage
NEWTON, Ask A Scientist!
NEWTON Home Page NEWTON Teachers Visit Our Archives Ask A Question How To Ask A Question Question of the Week Our Expert Scientists Volunteer at NEWTON! Frequently Asked Questions Referencing NEWTON About NEWTON About Ask A Scientist Education At Argonne Kidney Stone Formation 
Name: Dave B
Location: N/A
Country: N/A
Date: N/A
Question:
How are kidney stones formed?


Replies:
The technical term for kidney stones is renal calculi (you may be able to find more info. using this term) there are many different causes. Metabolic disturbances, hyperparathyroidism, urinary obstruction, infection, dehydration, drugs or chemotherapy, or a fixed pH (the pH of urine changes over the course of a day and helps to prevent crystal formation, if it stays the same pH, crystals form more easily). Kidney stones are made of crystals such as calcium oxalate, uric acid, calcium phosphate, etc.

Van Hoeck


Click here to return to the Biology Archives

NEWTON is an electronic community for Science, Math, and Computer Science K-12 Educators, sponsored and operated by Argonne National Laboratory's Educational Programs, Andrew Skipor, Ph.D., Head of Educational Programs.

For assistance with NEWTON contact a System Operator (help@newton.dep.anl.gov), or at Argonne's Educational Programs

NEWTON AND ASK A SCIENTIST
Educational Programs
Building 360
9700 S. Cass Ave.
Argonne, Illinois
60439-4845, USA
Update: June 2012
Weclome To Newton

Argonne National Laboratory