[Guest]

I requested by my urologist to have a 24 hr. urine test calcium. today I notified by mail test indicated hi calcium asked me to repeat test. implications of hi calcium in urine? I have a past history of Kidney stones

[Guest]

High urinary calcium can be due to several problems. The most common is absorptive meaning there is either too much calcium in your diet or your system is absorbing a higher percentage of the dietary calcium than normal.

If you had a 24 hour urine test, then there should be other results such as volume, uric acid, citrate and oxalate. If possible, please don't post descriptions such as "high" or "low" or "normal" for these values since these words are too non-specific. I much prefer the actual numbers if you can get them. For example, you might have only a slightly elevated urinary calcium, but the oxalate level might be very high also. In that case, dietary adjustment for the oxalate would be more beneficial to stopping stone formation than therapy for the calcium.

Restricting dietary calcium is NOT usually the best way to treat high urinary calcium levels. Unless your diet is very high in calcium foods, we usually recommend treating this with a thiazide medication which returns calcium from the urine and puts it back in the blood.

Once you are on a treatment, it's a good idea to have the 24 hour urine rechecked a few months later to make sure the treatment is working and not creating a new problem. You should also check "The Kidney Stones Handbook" for more details on high urinary calcium.

Stephen W. Leslie, MD

Assistant Clinical Professor
Dept. of Urology
Medical College of Ohio

Founder and Medical Director
Lorain Kidney Stone Research Center
Lorain, Ohio