Preventing Kidney Stones

By Dr. Brian McDonough, Medical Editor

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Are you someone who suffers from kidney stones? If you are, you know how painful they can be. There are some common sense steps that you can take to help with this and, although not perfect, they can be helpful.

Drinking water can be a great thing - staying well hydrated is essential.

Eliminating soft drinks that contain only phosphoric acid. Another way to help through the diet is to consume a normal amount of calcium and low sodium foods.

Recently there was a review of twenty-eight studies and the results were very consistent: increase oral fluids, reduce soft drink consumption and talk to your doctor about how to increase citrates. There are numerous ways to treat stones when you have them but as anyone with stones will tell you - the best thing to do is avoid them.