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An Observation on the Composition of Urinary Calculi: Environmental Influence

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Medical Geochemistry

Abstract

Urinary stones exist throughout the world and are considered among the most painful medical conditions. Primary causal factors for the formation of these stones include both biological and environmental factors. Environmental factors are suspected to have a direct relationship to the composition of urine, which is governed mainly by diet and drinking water composition. This is a brief review on the influence of the environment on urinary stones formation: prevalence, geographical distribution and composition. A pilot case study on urinary stones in southern Italy is reported.

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Acknowledgments

Financial support came from POR Basilicata 2000/2006 – FONDO FESR – misura 1.5 – azione A – “MASPONE-FAECAB Project”.

The authors gratefully acknowledge the Nephrology Unit, San Carlo Hospital (Potenza, Italy) and the Department for Health, Safety and Social Solidarity of the Basilicata Regional Authority.

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  1. Laboratory of Environmental and Medical Geology, IMAA-CNR, Tito Scalo (PZ), 85050, Italy

    Maria Luigia Giannossi & Vito Summa

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  1. Maria Luigia Giannossi
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  2. Vito Summa
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Correspondence to Maria Luigia Giannossi .

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  1. , Department of Earth and Marine Sciences, Università degli Studi di Palermo, Via Archirafi 22, Palermo, 90123, Italy

    Paolo Censi

  2. , Environmental Earth and Ocean Sciences, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Morrissey Boulevard 100, Boston, 02139, USA

    Thomas Darrah

  3. , Inst. Earth Sci, The Hebrew University, Edmond Safra Campus, Jerusalem, 91904, Israel

    Yigal Erel

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Giannossi, M.L., Summa, V. (2013). An Observation on the Composition of Urinary Calculi: Environmental Influence. In: Censi, P., Darrah, T., Erel, Y. (eds) Medical Geochemistry. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4372-4_5

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