Potassium Citrate

MONDAY, Jan. 15, 2024 -- Trendy bottled water marketed as “alkaline water” isn’t likely to prevent kidney stones in a person plagued by them, a new study reports. These products tend to have contain less alkali than is needed to alter urine pH level enough to keep stones from forming, said senior study author Dr. Roshan Patel , a urologist with the University of California, Irvine. "While alkaline water products have a higher pH than regular water, they have a negligible alkali content – which suggests that they can't raise urine pH enough to affect the development of kidney and other urinary stones," Patel said in a university news release. Alkaline water, also called high pH water, has become increasingly popular, researchers said in background notes. Tap water has a typical pH around 7.5, while alkaline water has a pH in the range of 8 to 10, the researchers said. Raising pH is a key strategy to prevent kidney stones in patients who’ve previously had stones, researchers said. This is typically done through potassium citrate tablets prescribed to patients. But many patients aren’t fond of taking the large pills several times a day, and alkaline water offers an attractive alternative, researchers said. To see whether high pH water could help, Patel and his colleagues tested five alkaline water products that are on the market. They also reviewed published data on other types of drinks and over-the-counter products that might increase urinary pH. The five bottled alkaline waters all had similar pH levels, around 10. But at a pH of 10, the tested products would still have an alkali content of just 0.1 milliequivalent per liter (mEq/L). That's a "trivial" concentration compared to the body's typical metabolic acid production of 40 to 100 mEq/L per day, Patel says. By contrast, other products available for purchase do have the potential to increase pH. For example, plain old orange juice – with an alkali content of up to 15 mEq/L – provides the most cost-effective means of reaching a target alkali concentration of 30 mEq per day, researchers said. Another effective, low-cost option is baking soda, although researchers said there are concerns about the sodium in the soda. "Our findings may help to guide the selection of other treatments, including beverages and over-the-counter products, for preventing recurrent urinary stones," Patel said. The researchers noted that these are lab studies of products, and that clinical trials need to be performed to best test options for increasing urinary pH. The new study was published in the Journal of Urology . Sources American Urological Association, news release, Jan. 10, 2024 Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions. Posted January 2024 More news resources FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts Daily MedNews News for Health Professionals New Drug Approvals New Drug Applications Drug Shortages Clinical Trial Results Generic Drug Approvals Subscribe to our newsletter Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.

The annual meeting of the American Urological Association was held from April 28 to May 1 in Chicago and attracted participants from around the world, including clinicians, academicians, allied health professionals, and others interested in urology. The conference highlighted recent advances in the prevention, detection, and treatment of urologic conditions, with presentations focusing on the advancement of urologic patient care. In one study, Natasha Gupta, M.D., of New York University in New York City, and colleagues found that female partners of men with prostate cancer experience sexual losses due to both age- and prostate cancer-related declines in sexual health. Utilizing semistructured telephone interviews, the authors aimed to gain insight into the sexual health concerns and unmet needs of female partners of men with prostate cancer. The researchers found that female partners of men with prostate cancer experience sexual losses due to both age- and prostate cancer-related declines in sexual health and experience prostate cancer-related sexual dysfunction as a "couple's disease." Female partners also experience a lack of sexual health counseling and support and therefore have unmet sexual health resource needs. "Sexual recovery programs for prostate cancer survivors should include partners," Gupta said. "Future efforts should seek to address unmet sexual health resource needs of female partners of survivors to improve sexual quality of life among heterosexual couples facing prostate cancer." Abstract No. MP45-10 In another study, Roshan M. Patel, M.D., of the University of California at Irvine, and colleagues found that 11 supplements or beverages consumed in two to three servings/day can provide an alkali content load to meet the minimum daily recommendation to alkalinize urine. The authors aimed to evaluate the potential impact of commonly used alkaline water intake on kidney stone risk. The researchers tested five different brands of bottled alkaline water to determine the electrolyte and alkali content. A comprehensive review was done to detail the alkali, sodium, and caloric content of other over-the-counter beverages and supplements. The cost for supplying the daily recommended amount of alkali per month was determined for all studied and reviewed substances. While the researchers found that alkaline water provides less than 1 mEq/L of alkali and provides no benefit to patients consuming it to prevent kidney stones, 11 supplements or beverages consumed in two to three servings/day can provide an alkali content load to meet the minimum American Urologic Association and European Association of Urology daily recommendation to alkalinize urine. "Baking soda, Moonstone Powder® and Simply® orange juice have the highest amount of alkali content per serving," Patel said. "In addition, baking soda and NOW® potassium citrate are the most cost-effective supplements." Abstract No. MP10-15 Arshia Sandozi, D.O., of Maimonides Medical Center in Bronx, New York, and colleagues found that state demographics like population, birth rate, or insurance status are not associated with any difference in codification for infertility. The authors aimed to understand which states had legislation regarding infertility benefits and whether benefits were codified into individual states' essential health benefits benchmark plans. The researchers reviewed state essential health benefit benchmark insurance plans submitted to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid and found that 20 states had legislation regarding infertility, including 17 states that had a mandate to cover, but coverage provisions varied widely. In addition, two states had "must offer" mandates (insurers must all offer a plan with infertility coverage, but employers and private individuals are not required to select such a plan). One state had a prohibition from exclusion (conditions that would otherwise be covered cannot be excluded on the basis of causing infertility). "Upon delving into benchmark health plans, we saw some hopeful signs. For instance, although only 20 states legislate infertility benefits, 25 states altogether codify infertility benefits into their benchmark health plans. Interestingly, 12 states without any legislative mandate do codify the coverage of infertility as an essential health benefit, and seven states that legislate infertility benefits do not," Sandozi said. "When we looked at state demographics associated with codification of infertility benefits, higher state median income was associated with including any infertility treatment and, in particular, artificial insemination." Abstract No. PD20-12 AUA: Genomic Urine Test Accurately Predicts Bladder Cancer MONDAY, May 15, 2023 -- A new genomic urine test can predict bladder cancer as many as 12 years before clinical signs and symptoms emerge, according to a study presented at the annual meeting of the American Urological Association, held from April 28 to May 1 in Chicago. Read Full Text Posted May 2023