In a recent study kidney stones linked to higher diabetes risk and this is something that should be avoided at all costs.

In the new study, researchers found that among more than 94,000 Taiwanese adults, those with a history of kidney stones were about 30 percent more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes over five years than people without stones.

Of over 23,000 people who’d been treated for kidney stones, 12.4 percent developed diabetes, based on medical records. That compared with 9.6 percent of the 70,700 stone-free adults studied for comparison.

Diabetes and kidney stones do share some of the same risk factors—including obesity and older age.

But even when the researchers accounted for age, obesity and certain other health factors, kidney stones were linked to a one-third higher risk of developing diabetes.

There’s some evidence to suggest that the blood-sugar-regulating hormone insulin may contribute to kidney stones, according to Lin’s team. Research in animals and humans has hinted that high insulin levels can change the composition of the urine in a way that makes kidney stones more likely to form.

Type 2 diabetes arises when the body loses its sensitivity to insulin, causing levels of the hormone to go up.

The study has limitations, Lin’s team points out—including the fact that it relied on medical records, which are not always accurate. The study also lacked some key information that could help explain why kidney stones and diabetes were connected. That included information on diet, family history and exercise habits.  Story in detail.

Although the study it seems is inconclusive in gives a loud warning that diet and obesity do play a big part in avoiding diabetes.

In Australia today which I am sure mimics similar results worldwide around a quarter of the patients who require long-term dialysis require it due to diabetes. Although the incidence of kidney disease is higher among people with type 1 diabetes than type 2, the absolute number of patients with kidney disease is about the same for the two groups, because type 2 diabetes is around 10 times as common as type 1 diabetes.