Vitamin C, Cancer, and Kidney Stones, Part II
Vitamin C
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin. Unlike most mammals and other animals, humans do not have the ability to make their own vitamin C. Therefore, we must obtain vitamin C through our diet.
Function
Vitamin C is required for the synthesis of collagen, an important structural component of blood vessels, tendons, ligaments, and bone. Vitamin C also plays an important role in the synthesis of the neurotransmitter, norepinephrine. Neurotransmitters are critical to brain function and are known to affect mood. In addition, vitamin C is required for the synthesis of carnitine, a small molecule that is essential for the transport of fat into cellular organelles called mitochondria, where the fat is converted to energy (1). Research also suggests that vitamin C is involved in the metabolism of cholesterol to bile acids, which may have implications for blood cholesterol levels and the incidence of gallstones (2).
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Categories: Kidney Stones, NUTRITION Tags: antioxidant, Cancer, immune system, kidney stones, linus pauling institute, natural vitamin C, supplements, sweet red pepper, vitamin C, vitamin c supplementation
Vitamin C, Cancer, and Kidney Stones
Controversy over Vitamin C Supplements
Many of the health institution in the world, including The Committee on Diet, Nutrition, and Cancer, took a stand against use of vitamin C supplements to meet it’s recommendations.
I think that scientists who take this position have one of two reasons. One is a very good one. But the other, in my opinion, is not so good.
The studies that tie vitamin C to cancer prevention usually link foods containing vitamin C rather than the vitamin itself to reduce risk of cancer. There is always the possibility that it is something else in these foods, rather than the vitamin C, that is protecting our health. If this is the case, people who take a vitamin C pill rather than eat vitamin C-containing foods will miss the unknown protective substance. Personally, I think that it is probably the vitamin C itself that is protective, though I also believe that other substance in these same foods may have anti-cancer ability.
Categories: Kidney Stones Tags: Cancer, enzyme G6PD, G6PD deficiency, kidney stones, natural vitamin C, niacin, vitamin B-12, vitamin C, vitamin C supplements
Saturated Fats for the Kidney’s Health
One of the body’s most important organs is the kidney. Properly functioning kidneys are essential for maintaining proper blood volume and composition; for filtering and excreting or saving various chemical metabolites; and for helping to maintain proper blood pressure. Hypertension (high blood pressure) is known to result from improperly functioning kidneys. Research carried out during the last few years indicates that both saturated fat and cholesterol play important roles in maintaining kidney function, as do the omega-3 fatty acids.
Categories: Kidney Tags: alpha-linolenic acid, cholesterol, coconut oil, DHA, EPA, fish oil-type omega-3 fatty acids, flax oil-type omega-3 fatty acid, Hypertension, immune dysfunction, kidney's health, myristic acid, omega-3 fatty acids, omega-6 oils, palmitic acid, polyunsaturated fatty acids, saturated fats, stearic acid, trans-fatty-acids
Kidney Stone: You Have to Know It Better
My True Story
I experienced suffering kidney stones two times in my life. The first one I’ve got in 1994 (when I was 28). Suddenly my urine became red and there was pain (renal colic) at waist area. I didn’t want to undertake any surgery to take out nor other measure to destroy the stone. I chose the moderate way, i.e. to pass the stone out of my body through urinary tract by drinking plenty of water and with the help from specific medicines formulated to ease the stone pass out of my body through the urinary tract. Four month later, the stone with size of one inch went out while I was urinating.
The second kidney stone attacked me 13 years later, in 2007. I got two times severe pain (renal colic) around waist area (so pain that I felt like I would die). Based on the first experience, I decided only applying the natural method of therapy in order to make the stone out of my body. Even though at that time I didn’t know exactly what kind of therapy should be. I would like to tell the story of the natural healing I’ve carried out to overcome the second time kidney stone, but in the next special article.
Categories: Kidney Stones Tags: hyperparathyroid, intravenous pyelogram, kidney failure, kidney stones, lithotripsy procedure, mycoplasma, natural healing, Nephrolithiasis, renal colic, renal failure, Ultrasound Shock Waves, urinary tract stones
Recent Advances in the Pathophysiology of Nephrolithiasis
Abstract
Over the past 10 years, major progress has been made in the pathogenesis of uric acid and calcium stones. These advances have led to our further understanding of a pathogenetic link between uric acid nephrolithiasis and the metabolic syndrome, the role of Oxalobacter formigenes in calcium oxalate stone formation, oxalate transport in Slc26a6-null mice, the potential pathogenetic role of Randall’s plaque as a precursor for calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis, and the role of renal tubular crystal retention. With these advances, we may target the development of novel drugs including (1) insulin sensitizers; (2) probiotic therapy with O. formigenes, recombinant enzymes, or engineered bacteria; (3) treatments that involve the upregulation of intestinal luminal oxalate secretion by increasing anion transporter activity (Slc26a6), luminally active nonabsorbed agents, or oxalate binders; and (4) drugs that prevent the formation of Randall’s plaque and/or renal tubular crystal adhesions.
Categories: Kidney Stones Tags: calcium oxalate stone, kidney stones, metabolic syndrome, Nephrolithiasis, Uric Acid Stone
Calcium Oxalate in Renal Stone Disease
The Terminal Metabolite That Just Won’t Go Away
Summary
The incidence of kidney stone disease, particularly calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis in the US and other countries has been increasing throughout the past three decades. Biopsy studies show that both calcium oxalate nephrolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis probably occur by different mechanisms in different subsets of patients. Before more-effective medical therapies can be developed for these conditions, we must understand the mechanisms governing the transport and excretion of oxalate and the interactions of the ion in general and renal physiology. Blood oxalate derives from diet, degradation of ascorbate, and production by the liver and erythrocytes. In mammals, oxalate is a terminal metabolite that must be excreted or sequestered. The kidneys are the primary route of excretion and the site of oxalate’s only known function. Oxalate stimulates the uptake of chloride, water, and sodium by the proximal tubule through the exchange of oxalate for sulfate or chloride via the solute carrier SLC26A6. Fecal excretion of oxalate is stimulated by hyperoxalemia in rodents, but no similar phenomenon has been observed in humans. Studies in which rats were treated with 14C-oxalate have shown that less than 2% of a chronic oxalate load accumulates in the internal organs, plasma, and skeleton. These studies have also demonstrated that there is interindividual variability in the accumulation of oxalate, especially by the kidney. This Review summarizes the transport and function of oxalate in mammalian physiology and the ion’s potential roles in nephrolithiasis and nephrocalcinosis.
