A funny thing happened on the way to discovering how zinc impacts kidney stones — two different theories emerged, each contradicting the other. One: Zinc stops the growth of the calcium oxalate crystals that make up the stones; and two: It alters the surfaces of crystals which encourages further growth. Now it can be told — both theories are correct as reported in the America Chemical Society journal Crystal Growth & Design by Jeffrey Rimer, Abraham E. Dukler Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Houston, who conducted the first study to offer some resolution to the differing hypotheses.
“What we see with zinc is something we haven’t seen before. It does slow down calcium oxalate crystal growth and at the same time it changes the surface of the crystals, causing defects in the form of intergrowths. These abnormalities create centers for new…
