Environmental factors of urinary stones mineralogy, Khouzestan Province, Iran

Urinary stone diseases in the Khouzestan province (southwest Iran) are growing in number and it required extensive studies on various factors of the urinary stones formation in this province. In this research, in addition to distribution of urinary stones in different areas of province, the role of bioenvironmental (race), climate (temperature) and geology (water hardness) factors in urinary stones diversity has been studied. Mineralogical studied using X-ray diffraction showed that uricite and whewellite are the most frequency mineral phases. Struvite, Cystine, hydroxyapatite, weddellite, and Niahite can be observed as urinary stones, too. These data show that the urinary stone in the Khouzestan province can divide into 7 groups: calcium oxalate, phosphate, calcium oxalate/ phosphate, Urate, Urate/calcium, Urate/calcium oxalate/phosphate, Cystine/calcium oxalate. Also the results which attained from temperature effect investigation on the mineralogy of urinary stones, confirms that from Mediterranean sub-humid climates (northeastern area) to warm and dry climates (south and southwest area), calcium oxalate stones and urate stones concentration decreases and increases respectively. Comparison of data related to the drinking water hardness and mineralogy of urinary stones in different areas of Khouzestan province show that the combination of drinking water (especially water hardness) affects mineralogy of urinary stones in some areas (such az Ramhormoz and Hendijan). Finally, the data suggest that frequency of calcium oxalate in women is more than that of men. Moreover, there is direct relationship between the age (>45 years) and the increase in frequency of Urate minerals